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ZigguratOfUr
Iraq16955 Posts
The first season of the new year is approaching, and we’ve got a preview of the new maps coming to the StarCraft II ladder. The following maps are currently available for testing in the Melee section of the Custom tab.
1v1
Cyber Forest LE
![[image loading]](https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/MQOAO2208LZ71547517613714.jpg)
Take care, as the fastest path to your opponent through this mysterious forest is narrow until the surrounding rocks are cleared. The main bases are very open, so watch out for enemy air drops and small units lurking in the corners.
Year Zero LE
![[image loading]](https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/KBAIM8V61PRJ1547517614873.jpg)
Located within the Void, Year Zero features a long rush distance between the main bases, but players can open a faster route by breaking down rocks between them. The northern Watch Tower will also be a key strategic location early in the game.
King's Cove LE
![[image loading]](https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/ECCDF36ZX52S1547517614085.jpg)
Despite its large size, King's Cove has main bases on the smaller side, so space may be tight as the game progresses. Scout, attack, and flank well or become another buried treasure lost within the cove.
New Repugnancy LE
![[image loading]](https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/WPPYB6EMBNP71547517614252.jpg)
Thanks to some uncleared rubble from a ruined terran city, New Repugnancy’s congested center area could prove problematic for maneuvering large armies. Destroying rocks on the top and bottom of the map opens new routes to late-game bases, so beware of sneak attacks.
Team Maps
2v2
Efflorescence LE
![[image loading]](https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/0ITT5A9C37XN1547517613868.jpg)
Work closely with your ally to defend early on, and prepare to watch multiple fronts as you venture further out into this mysterious meadow.
3v3
Rose Motel LE
![[image loading]](https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/V5JH5QCC5G5S1547517614503.jpg)
While there are many expansion locations, team coordination is required in order to not be unexpectedly split up. Rocks in key locations, such as under the central line of sight blockers, makes defense easier in the early game—but remember that every rose has its thorns.
4v4
Shipwrecked LE
![[image loading]](https://bnetcmsus-a.akamaihd.net/cms/page_media/N71BFY7AU1CC1547517614705.jpg)
You and your allies have crash-landed on a hostile island. Will your crew pull together to survive, or will you perish beneath the waves of mutiny? Players can expand at their own pace, but it could prove mutually beneficial to coordinate and try to secure one of the corner areas.
When 2019 Season 1 starts on January 22, Para Site, Cerulean Fall, Blueshift, and Stasis will be removed from the 1v1 ladder. Flooded City, Bastion of the Conclave, and Rooftop Terrace will be removed from the Team ladder.
The final 1v1 map list will be:
- Port Aleksander LE
- Kairos Junction LE
- Automaton LE
- Year Zero LE
- King's Cove LE
- New Repugnancy LE
- Cyber Forest LE
Jump online into a Custom game and start practicing your strategies now. GLHF!
Known Issues
- Year Zero LE: Certain doodads are not appearing properly.
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ZigguratOfUr
Iraq16955 Posts
Personally I'm mostly happy about these maps. I don't think Cyber Forest is particularly good, but neither is it awful (it did do well in TLMC11). New Repugnancy didn't do well in TLMC 11, but I like it. Year Zero looks good. And King's Cove is probably only the 3rd best version of Abyssal Reef produced by Sidian, but that still sounds acceptable. The pool overall might be a bit lacking diversity wise.
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Elentos
55594 Posts
I feel like maps on ladder just keep getting bigger over time for no actually good reason.
Happy about New Repugnancy and Cyber Forest. No strong opinions on Year Zero but it'll probably be less reprehensible to play than Stasis. I have a bone to pick with King's Cove though. Making Abyssal Reef but with easier to take bases just sounds like straight-up lunacy to me.
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ZigguratOfUr
Iraq16955 Posts
On January 16 2019 05:46 Elentos wrote:
I feel like maps on ladder just keep getting bigger over time for no actually good reason.
Happy about New Repugnancy and Cyber Forest. No strong opinions on Year Zero but it'll probably be less reprehensible to play than Stasis. I have a bone to pick with King's Cove though. Making Abyssal Reef but with easier to take bases just sounds like straight-up lunacy to me.
Maps do mostly get bigger and bigger, until you end up with some truly gigantic map pools with maps like Proxima Station or Acolyte and where Ascension to Aiur is average sized, at which point everyone realizes there's a problem and map sizes crash back down, before starting to creep back up again. I don't think we're due for another crash for a few more seasons yet though.
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Elentos
55594 Posts
On January 16 2019 05:55 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
I don't think we're due for another crash for a few more seasons yet though.
Which sounds absolutely preposterous coming out of a map pool with Para Site, Cerulean Fall and Port Aleksander.
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United States1972 Posts
It's like someone said, "Hey, there aren't enough free bases on Abyssal Reef (five), let's make a map with six bases behind two narrow chokes and call it King's Cove!"
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ZigguratOfUr
Iraq16955 Posts
On January 16 2019 05:56 Elentos wrote:Show nested quote +On January 16 2019 05:55 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
I don't think we're due for another crash for a few more seasons yet though. Which sounds absolutely preposterous coming out of a map pool with Para Site, Cerulean Fall and Port Aleksander.
I decided to check if maps are actually getting bigger, since I think lots of people have that impression. The results were... mixed I guess?
This is a chart of the median size of two player maps in the map pools of all of LotV. I only looked at area since that was the easiest data to get, and I wasn't sure how to weight multiple factors like rush distance and so on. And ofc a few maps have misleading areas (like Dasan Station has a larger area than Neon Violet Square).
![[image loading]](https://i.imgur.com/w1GpxtJ.png)
So the trend is upward over the last few seasons, but not really overall.
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Year Zero kinda reminds me of Habitation Station but with rocks at the northern-most third instead of it being an awkward gold base.
King's Cove does indeed appear to be basically Abyssal Reef but mirrored and with an extra base. That's fine by me.
This pool is kinda lacking in the diversity department. A lot of really big maps. Glad Para Site and Blueshift are gone. I was getting pretty tired of those two. Sad Cerulean Falls is going. I had a lot of interesting games on that.
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Czech Republic12134 Posts
On January 16 2019 13:49 ZigguratOfUr wrote:Show nested quote +On January 16 2019 05:56 Elentos wrote:On January 16 2019 05:55 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
I don't think we're due for another crash for a few more seasons yet though. Which sounds absolutely preposterous coming out of a map pool with Para Site, Cerulean Fall and Port Aleksander. I decided to check if maps are actually getting bigger, since I think lots of people have that impression. The results were... mixed I guess? This is a chart of the median size of two player maps in the map pools of all of LotV. I only looked at area since that was the easiest data to get, and I wasn't sure how to weight multiple factors like rush distance and so on. And ofc a few maps have misleading areas (like Dasan Station has a larger area than Neon Violet Square). + Show Spoiler +So the trend is upward over the last few seasons, but not really overall.
Maybe count the number of bases? Not sure - I mean, let's take a look at that map with the white paint thingy ... dream something. It wasn't particularly big, but because the bases were not close enough it seems bigger because you have to move your units far away to defend the bases(or conquer them  ). But base-base travelling distance was standard one.
Also the map size alone doesn't mean a thing if big parts of the map are unusable.
Not sure how to measure this, sometimes it's just the mind playing tricks on folks and how people veto maps.
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Welcome back, Abyssal Reef
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I think every single map pool is the same, you are always one veto short of having a good ladder experience.
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Elentos
55594 Posts
On January 16 2019 13:49 ZigguratOfUr wrote:Show nested quote +On January 16 2019 05:56 Elentos wrote:On January 16 2019 05:55 ZigguratOfUr wrote:
I don't think we're due for another crash for a few more seasons yet though. Which sounds absolutely preposterous coming out of a map pool with Para Site, Cerulean Fall and Port Aleksander. I decided to check if maps are actually getting bigger, since I think lots of people have that impression. The results were... mixed I guess?
I guess what it is in the end is not just the overall area but a mix of that, rush distance, perhaps base counts and definitely terrain. For example, King Sejong Station is bigger in area than Lost and Found. But Lost and Found feels astronomically huge by comparison when playing on it.
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cyber forest looks kind of nightmarish for playing ZvP or against tanks and liberators in PvT/maybe ZvT. i've never been a fan of maps full of a bunch of weird high ground pods and abstract chokes. they have a tendency to play out the same way, which is usually just watching one race try to desperately avoid engaging in the "interesting" parts of the map. the only time i think it was done really well was Sequencer, which had so many uniform paths that you could be creative with your movements
year zero looks fine but very unoriginal
disagree with the abyssal reef comparison on king's cove, it has some fairly clear distinctions. people are literally just saying abyssal because of the ocean/beach scheme. years ago everyone used to say any beach tile map was Ohana, lol. the way the sections of the map are divided and the potential expansion patterns are both different from abyssal
new repugnancy is possibly the worst map name ever, but it looks pretty good. maybe a turtle fest though
and a final thought: whoever writes the official map descriptions could be doing better, or they could just be scrapped in favor of having actual players or mapmakers try analysis. the semi-"in universe" descriptions all sound exactly the same and add nothing but mild confusion. "this map has rocks/multiple paths. watch all the paths as you seek victory on this mysterious meadow/abandoned space station/charred valley/blahblahblah"
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Elentos
55594 Posts
On January 16 2019 21:56 brickrd wrote:
disagree with the abyssal reef comparison on king's cove, it has some fairly clear distinctions. people are literally just saying abyssal because of the ocean/beach scheme
The comparison originally comes from the person who made both King's Cove and Abyssal Reef.
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I am looking forward to new repugnancy any map that features a spot for tanks to hit the natural is welcomed from me
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These look like good maps! Especially liking Cyber Forest and New Repugnancy, gotta see how the others play out once the season starts. Good job map makers!
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ZigguratOfUr
Iraq16955 Posts
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Well I hope King's Cove gets fixed before hitting the ladder otherwise it's a hard veto for toss players.
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Why in every mappool has to exist at least 1 map like Stasis LE...I am talking about Year Zero LE. Wide and with huge space for abusing tempest or lib ranges. Cerulean Fall was good map and idk why they cutted it...
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EPT
