Winter's Gate
By: Marras

Judge's comments: AVEXI’m glad to see that we have our first Challenge/New map in the TLMC12 since Neon Violet Square be Winter’s Gate by Marras. As her second map in the Top 5, Winter’s Gate is a very fantastic execution of the new Inhibitor Zone Generators, placing them next to rocks, and obscuring the direct pathways through the center until said rocks are destroyed. These zones will immediately affect the play of the map, encouraging armies to avoid the center and skirmish in different locations, or take risks with the new zones. Players who are also not a fan of drops might be fans of this map as well, with Zones slowing air units by the corners of the main bases. This was the best performing Challenge map in the judgement process, and it’s good to see that the voterbase agrees.

Judge's comments: KantuWinter’s Gate by Marras was one of the most preferred maps of Challenge 2 by certain Judges, and surely it is good to see that it is one of the most preferred maps by the broader community as well! Winter’s Gate with its slowing zones near the third will surely bring some headaches to defensive players, yet that’s exactly what makes it a valuable map, the fact that slowing zones are used in a highly interactive position with players armies makes for some very potentially interesting situations.

Triton
By: themusic246

Judge's comments: AVEXThemusic246 returns once again to TLMC with a solid standard map execution. This layout has actually become relatively popular amongst mapmakers, and I would believe this map to be one of the best executions of said style, even sprinkling influence from other maps such as Abyssal Reef along the side pathways. Triton is definitely a show, and not tell style of a map, where there isn’t too much to speak of in its uniqueness, but rather just a strong showing and execution that should be a solid example for newer, aspiring mapmakers.

Judge's comments: KantuTriton crafted by TheMusic246, submitted to the Standard category will surely provide players with some very fair matches, the terrain of the map is well crafted so as to add that extra level of interesting attack paths, blockades and battle fields that will surely be enjoyed by many.

Disco Bloodbath
By: Marras

Judge's comments: AVEXDefinitely one of the aesthetic favorites of many in this TLMC, Marras is continuing the neon light fad in TLMC12 with Disco Bloodbath, incorporating elements from both Blackpink LE and Neon Violet Square LE. I don’t have too much to say on this map, it’s a fairly decent and unique execution of a macro layout, with a strong emphasis on the horizontal expansion pattern. This map is a good example for future Macro Map submissions, noting how safe or easy it is to obtain a third base as opposed to a standard map such as Catalyst. This is the beginning of Marras’ mapmaking career as she shines strongly with Disco Bloobath.

Judge's comments: KantuDisco Bloothbath by Marras, just like our first place Acropolis also belongs to the Macro category, sporting a flashy tecno tileset Disco Bloodbath will indeed give players their much desired floor dance fix. That said, the map will certainly provide future ladders with a very solid canvas where players can enjoy some games of StarCraft without too much of that pesky cheese.

Ephemeron
By: -NegativeZero-

Judge's comments: AVEXNegativeZero should be no stranger to those who follow the map scene, and Ephemeron was unfortunately knocked out early in the previous TLMC in the extremely competitive Standard category. Fortunately, it came back with a strong showing in the tournament and definitely holds up as a unique execution of the Standard formula, moving away from multiple third options, and balancing itself carefully on the use of large debris and the narrow bridges in the center. It’s also very green, which many players have been asking for, for some time.

Judge's comments: KantuEphemeron created by NegativeZero is indeed a very green map, something that players indeed enjoy very much, tho gameplay wise, the map offers a different yet highly evolved take on its general layout and center, map displays a single third, instead of the more widespread 2 optional ones, something that accents the importance of said base. In the center and around the corners the map burrows from Superouman’s bridge ideas to great success, helping accent gameplay through the central highground.

Acropolis
By: RQM

Judge's comments: AVEXI’ve been saying it for a while, but RQM is one of the underrated mapmakers in the scene, you all should look into his other work and see the potential he has and this remains true as he now wins two TLMCs back to back, formerly with Automaton, and now Acropolis (perhaps its the A in the name? Hehe.) I heard strong favor towards this map through the tournament, and I’m glad the judges were able to give valuable pre-judging feedback to push this map from being “pretty decent” to a TLMC winner. Acropolis is an example of what it looks like to create a proper Macro execution, where it supports longer games without being exhaustive of its features in supporting that goal.

Judge's comments: KantuAcropolis by RQM is a very aesthetically pleasing map inspired by Greek ruins, a custom made tileset which hasn’t been showcased in StarCraft before. Given that it came from the Macro category, the games that were seen in the tournament stage reflected that, with some of the games seeing some big army clashes in the central ruins of the map. It is our hope that this map provides a solid backbone of action for future WCS tournaments.