Improving the Global Finals Map Pool

by Mizenhauer
Mizenhauer

The WCS Global Finals at BlizzCon is the crown jewel of StarCraft II esports, guaranteed to be the most hyped, most watched event of the year. But there are still ways to make it even better. One of the most glaring shortcomings is the map pool. Under the current format, the Global Finals is played on the ladder map pool at the time of the tournament. However, no ladder season has a perfect map pool, and it's likely that one or two maps will be deemed 'questionable' at best. This is apparent in the pick/veto numbers from previous Global Finals.



At the 2017 Global Finals, Catallena survived vetoes just 5 times in 26 total series, and was banned in every single BO5. In contrast, Ascension to Aiur was picked 20 times. Going back to the 2016 Global Finals, Dasan Station and Apotheosis were distinctly unpopular compared to the other maps (Dasan was picked for game seven in the ban-less grand final).

This is partially due to the tendencies of progamers, who typically prefer to play on 'standard' macro maps. However, some maps are too flawed or imbalanced to fault progamers for being conservative. A map like Dasan Station might force creativity with its incredibly close rush distance and exploitable backdoor ramp, but it's a type of creativity that's completely out of sync with the rest of professional StarCraft II. Catallena’s asymmetrical layout creates game situations that one can't even prepare for, with inconsistent creep expansion patterns at different spawn positions actually affecting the 2017 grand final. An absolute worst case scenario would see a map like the infamous Daedalus Point—utterly broken in a single match-up—slip into the Global Finals. Vetoes are mostly able to keep those maps out of best of three series, but they will slip through into best of fives and sevens. The result is underwhelming gameplay and dissatisfying games.

Solution: Let players pick maps from the entire year

How could the situation be improved? One solution would be to let the Global Finalists select the map pool from all the maps played during the competitive year. The sixteen finalists are determined more than a month before the tournament—they could submit their votes on the seven (or more) maps they want played at BlizzCon from the ENTIRE pool of ladder maps that year. All player votes would be added together and the maps receiving the most votes would form the map pool.

Not only would this protect the competition from being diluted by flawed maps, but it would allow the return of proven battlegrounds that had cycled out of the map pool. BlizzCon is supposed to be the culmination of an entire year of competitive StarCraft. All the best maps—from start to finish—should be celebrated. Players should be able to show the full extent on their skills on the very best maps.

Problems and potential solutions

Of course, there are some problems with this solution. If the racial balance of the Global Final participants isn't perfect, players from the most-represented race would naturally vote for maps that worked in their favor. Nine Terrans, Protoss, or Zerg could force through a map pool favorable to their race, something that would put them at a distinct advantage.

One possible workaround is weighting votes equally by race. Another is to simply use the player voting as a reference while Blizzard curates their own master list.

Another issue is player practice. While many players find designated practice partners to help them prepare for BlizzCon, there are still players who rely heavily on ladder play. This may not be a big deal for Code S players who are used to playing on GSL's non-ladder maps, but WCS Circuit players may find it hard to adjust.

Issues can be worked out and the exact implementation can be determined through careful consideration. The core premise is the same: Expanding the BlizzCon map pool to encompass the entire year and giving the players a say would improve the Global Finals.

A change like this would give the sixteen best players in the world a chance to play at their absolute highest level, while viewers would get to see why these battlefields and combatants were the best of 2018. The final product would be a competition more worthy of Blizzard’s vision for WCS.

Pro-player feedback

TeamLiquid.net sent out an anonymous questionnaire to Korean players (including previous Global Finalists) regarding a direct player-vote to choose the BlizzCon map pool.

Player A

• What do you think of this proposal?
Good proposal. Unbalanced maps not only cause race imbalances, but also make the games less fun to watch for viewers.

• Are there any issues that stick out?
None.

• How would you improve upon this system?
It's good.


Player B

• What do you think of this proposal?
I think that the ladder maps are better, because it is easier to practice.

• Are there any issues that stick out?
Being harder to practice? And the chance that maps with skewed balance will be selected by the players.

• How would you improve upon this system?
Blizzard selecting balanced maps in a fair manner.


Player C

• What do you think of this proposal?
I think it is a good proposal, but I think that [race imbalance in voting] is a very big issue. It would be good if there was a halfway solution. SC2, as a game, is greatly affected by the maps

• Are there any issues that stick out?
I think it’s a good idea.

• How would you improve upon this system?
Instead of the ladder maps for the very last season, it would be good to choose among the whole year’s ladder maps.


Player D

• What do you think of this proposal?
It's good. I think it would be possible to have fair map selection.

• Are there any issues that stick out?
None.

• How would you improve upon this system?
N/A


Player F

• What do you think of this proposal?
I think it’s a good proposal. It would be less convenient for the players’ practice, but it would give the fans some novel enjoyment. Also, BlizzCon is the conclusion of a year’s worth of tournaments, and it seems right that they use the maps that came before.

• Are there any issues that stick out?
If not for the previously mentioned problem where more players of one certain race qualify and maps favoring that race get picked more, I think it would be okay.

• How would you improve upon this system?
N/A

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