Voting has closed and the ballots have been counted. It's time to announce the winners of TL.net Map Contest #16!
We'd like to thank all the mapmakers for their map submissions, the TLMC judges for selecting the sixteen finalists, Wardi for running another fantastic TLMC tournament, the players who participated, and Shopify, ESL, and Blizzard for helping us hold another iteration of TLMC. And, of course, we're grateful to all the fans who voted on the final sixteen maps.
Mapmakers will receive $200 per map that finished in the top sixteen, and receive additional prize money for maps that finish in the top five as chosen by public vote:
1st place - $800
2nd place - $500
3rd place - $250
4th place - $150
5th place- $100
We'd also like to remind the community that the top placing maps in TLMC #16 are not guaranteed to be added to the competitive ladder. ESL and Blizzard will reference TLMC #16 and choose which maps to add at their own discretion.
5th place
"Centuries Later" by Superouman
Description: There was a thriving megalopolis here, before the Dominion decided to annihilate it. This map has a major twist: A second entrance to the starting base can be opened by mining the triangle third base. The triangle third base has two additional mineral fields with a value of
Features:
The main base has a backdoor that is blocked by the minerals of the triangle third
The triangle third has 2 additional mineral fields that have a value of 200.
4th place
"Stargazers" by Marras
Stargazers offers the opportunity to either play standard games or make things a bit more spicy by opening up the path through the pocket natural.
Features:
There are 12 blue maps in total plus one gold base at the 6 o'clock position
The pocket naturals have a standard amount of minerals and gas but the base is blocked by two mineral nodes with the value of 10 per each
The minerals blocking the ramp leading from the pocket natural have a value of 40 each making opening up that path a big commitment if done by the attacker
Line of sight blockers are situated in the middle area and the bottom of the map
The Xelnaga Tower at the 12 o'clock position can see a little bit of the outermost parts of the pocket natural mineral lines.
3rd place
"Moondance" by Marras
Moondance is a map with a lot of bases but a short rush distance. A pocket third offers players a safe expansion but it has less mineral nodes than a regular base and only one gas geyser
Features: 9 bases per player, pocket base has 6 mineral nodes and one gas, other bases are standard. Rush distance is short. There are rocks on some of the ramps and los blockers on the lowground areas. No fancy features.
2nd place
"Aftermath" by depressed1
-Aftermath is a mixed up map you might want to play because it doesn't have certain rules on how to set up the third.
Features:
4 levels
Golden base
"Boosted" low-ground base with large acceleration zone (minimal mining advantage but easier to harass)
A Mineral line like a front line to separate players from each other
Definitely (possibly) a way not to take the triangle third and take the bottom corner base (or golden base)
The rocks were used to organize the passage through the gold. Kinda neat.
1st place
"Waterfall" by Superouman
Two Protoss factions are cohabiting in this small rush map. A stream divides the map in two but there are 3 ford passages and 2 bridges that let players move across it.
Features:
While being a small rush map, the first few expansions are reasonably defendable.
During the lategame, because there are only 6.5 bases per player, both player will expand close to each other.
For the decoration, there is a small stream that runs across the map and ends with a nice waterfall. There are 3 ford passages and two transparent bridges over the stream where units can move across.
Full Results
Congratulations to all of the winners and finalists! We look forward to seeing your maps on the ladder in the near future.
1st: Waterfall
2nd: Aftermath
3rd: Moondance
4th: Stargazers
5th: Centuries Later
6th: Cryogenian
Tie 7th/8th: Frost Giant
Tie 7th/8th: Cosmic Sapphire
9th: Sunforge
10th: Nemesis
11th: Emerald Princess
12th: Data-C
13th: Tropical Sacrifice
14th: Rejuvenation
15th: Singularity
16th: Lost Facility
Read our finalists post for detailed views of all sixteen maps.
I just want to note that I'm glad that a first time submitter was able to do well in the contest, but there's nothing personal about my above comment.
The huge natural opening, the overlord pillar positioned to reveal both natural gases, the reflectional symmetry with the far bases, and the gold base on the far side are all zerg favored features. There are some chokes in the middle of the map and an easy air path, but I don't think that makes up for all the other things about it that make it zerg favored.
Not really a fan of Waterfall tbh, I think it got mostly voted because of its aesthetics. Also a bit disappointed that Rejuvenation and Tropical Sacrifice placed so low which were the best maps imo but congrats to the winners regardless
On February 10 2022 08:42 Superouman wrote: Another win for the double map theme theory! If a finalist map has 2 distinct decoration themes, it shall win the contest.
- TLMC 4 : CJ Biome - TLMC 13 : Purity and Industry - TLMC 15 : Oblivion - TLMC 16: Waterfall
But what happens if there are multiple double map theme finalists? We will learn that in the next TLMC !
Funny you mentioned that, I noticed it myself. I think it does impress people aesthetically. I prefer it too.
I have to say that the top 5 disappoints me. Literally none of the maps there are ones i'd like to play. Also super disappointed that Rejuvenation placed so low. I think that was the best by far.
Not sure what the negativity is over. Moondance and Stargazers were shoe ins imo, beautiful aesthetics and honestly I appreciate the pocket expansion with reduced minerals with 1 gas.
I wasn't sold on Waterfall initially but it did produce some really good games in the TLMC.
A big thanks to the map makers, really appreciate you guys and I think this map pool is going to produce some really good quality games.
Kinda sad that Cosmic Sapphire didn't make it but oh well, it was still a good map
I have to say that the top 5 disappoints me. Literally none of the maps there are ones i'd like to play. Also super disappointed that Aftermath placed so high. I think that was the worst by far.
I have to say that the top 5 disappoints me. Literally none of the maps there are ones i'd like to play. Also super disappointed that Aftermath placed so high. I think that was the worst by far.
I have to say that the top 5 disappoints me. Literally none of the maps there are ones i'd like to play. Also super disappointed that Aftermath placed so high. I think that was the worst by far.
^ I dunno why you guys are jumping on me so hard. I have opinions on what maps i would like to play and this time the top 5 just doesnt do it for me. I thought there were better maps, but it is what it is.
On February 10 2022 14:30 Luolis wrote: ^ I dunno why you guys are jumping on me so hard. I have opinions on what maps i would like to play and this time the top 5 just doesnt do it for me. I thought there were better maps, but it is what it is.
I just found out he got banned from twitch for posting angry bird dick ascii in Artosis' channel, I wouldn't expect a lot of maturity.
Also, without calling anyone out, I think it's ironic that people object so strenuously to balancing the races themselves against anything but the very best players (despite the obvious issues with this--some of them are just better than others because of their exceptional talent and experience), yet it seems like when it comes to maps, people think it's a good idea to have people vote on what they think looks the coolest without really considering balance issues.
The mapmaker discord has several mapmakers encouraging ignoring balance issues because they want to entertain lowbies.
On February 10 2022 14:30 Luolis wrote: ^ I dunno why you guys are jumping on me so hard. I have opinions on what maps i would like to play and this time the top 5 just doesnt do it for me. I thought there were better maps, but it is what it is.
Please, don't take it seriously. I'm making fun of myself.
On February 10 2022 14:43 honorablemacroterran wrote: I just found out he got banned from twitch for posting angry bird dick ascii in Artosis' channel, I wouldn't expect a lot of maturity.
Can confirm. I have 90 timeouts and 3 day suspension ban. Because I'm the guy in the chat.
On February 10 2022 14:43 honorablemacroterran wrote: I just found out he got banned from twitch for posting angry bird dick ascii in Artosis' channel, I wouldn't expect a lot of maturity.
Can confirm. I have 90 timeouts and 3 day suspension ban. Because I'm the guy in the chat.
I only found out because the sub chat is making fun of you for leaving the discord because you thought someone snitched on you. I literally never clicked on it before and decided to read it for some reason. KEKW
On February 10 2022 14:43 honorablemacroterran wrote: I just found out he got banned from twitch for posting angry bird dick ascii in Artosis' channel, I wouldn't expect a lot of maturity.
Can confirm. I have 90 timeouts and 3 day suspension ban. Because I'm the guy in the chat.
I only found out because the sub chat is making fun of you for leaving the discord because you thought someone snitched on you. I literally never clicked on it before and decided to read it for some reason. KEKW
On February 10 2022 15:22 Philippe wrote: Of these maps, gotta see which one is the most ladder-ready. Because last time this was the main bone of contention with some of the players.
Strongly agree with this. Some of the maps didn't even see a single game of certain matchups (TvZ) in the entire tournament.
On February 10 2022 13:32 jpg06051992 wrote: Not sure what the negativity is over. Moondance and Stargazers were shoe ins imo, beautiful aesthetics and honestly I appreciate the pocket expansion with reduced minerals with 1 gas.
I wasn't sold on Waterfall initially but it did produce some really good games in the TLMC.
A big thanks to the map makers, really appreciate you guys and I think this map pool is going to produce some really good quality games.
Kinda sad that Cosmic Sapphire didn't make it but oh well, it was still a good map
After that very first game on Wardi's Tournament, the map was ear-marked to score high on the finalists irregardless of anything else
It's nice to see a winner that has a lower number of bases than is standard. Most games don't get close to using all of the bases that modern maps provide and so their presence only ends up drawing out late-game stalemates...
I just realized that I totally forgot to vote. Watched most of the TLMC tournament to make an informed decision, only to miss the voting. But my votes would've been mostly similar anyways. I just had Rejuvenation in my Top 5. That map had some good games.
There are clearly a few things that really help maps to win. Just being beautiful or different in aesthetics helps a lot. Having very different design or using something like AZG in new odd way rises interest on map, but it can also end making things worse when games played on it turn out bad. First games seen on a map also make huge impact. You can have really solid map but most games just end early without games being obvious abuse something wrong on the map. This makes map quite forgettable compared to some crazy action-packed games.
On February 10 2022 23:50 Legan wrote: Congrats to winners.
There are clearly a few things that really help maps to win. Just being beautiful or different in aesthetics helps a lot. Having very different design or using something like AZG in new odd way rises interest on map, but it can also end making things worse when games played on it turn out bad. First games seen on a map also make huge impact. You can have really solid map but most games just end early without games being obvious abuse something wrong on the map. This makes map quite forgettable compared to some crazy action-packed games.
The acceleration zone over a base wasn't too interesting for me. Other aspects of the map was. Those zones did help when talking about the maps with friends. They were easy to remember.
I tried to look at how games went on the maps but, as you said, they often ended quickly without showing off the map. A lot of games just ended without being memorable.
Two of the top three most vetoed maps are #1 and #2, this seems to hapen every tournament :D
I think all the maps this season were great and honestly that a lot of the great maps just didn't get votes because they were just solid and normal. Aesthetics/crazyness playing a roll in being memorable/gathering a lot of votes, while standard votes are very spread out perhaps.
I think we can have a great ladder map pool with these maps, I think you could even scrap 7 current maps and add 7 new ones and it would be solid.
On February 11 2022 02:55 WardiTV wrote: I think we can have a great ladder map pool with these maps, I think you could even scrap 7 current maps and add 7 new ones and it would be solid.
On February 11 2022 02:55 WardiTV wrote: I think we can have a great ladder map pool with these maps, I think you could even scrap 7 current maps and add 7 new ones and it would be solid.
Congrats to all winners. And big thanks to the mapmakers. Its a lot of work/time in each of the maps. So whoever is hating on any of the Maps, shall shut up and make one himself. I love the top 5. They are pretty much what I voted for. However its obvious that the result would be different if only pros would vote. Special shoutout to depressed1 for the 2nd place. He was a newbie last TLMC I think. great to see fresh blood in such an old body (game). Im really looking forward to the next mappool.
Edit: also I think CMC contributed to the overall quality of this TLMC
On February 10 2022 08:06 Charoisaur wrote: Not really a fan of Waterfall tbh, I think it got mostly voted because of its aesthetics. Also a bit disappointed that Rejuvenation and Tropical Sacrifice placed so low which were the best maps imo but congrats to the winners regardless
I particularly dislike the protoss aesthetics of Waterfall.
There are too many maps using protoss tilesets.
It would have been better with a different tileset.
Really big THANK YOU to the mapmakers! You put in all that time and thoughts and effort - and we got some great new maps. Very exited to see at least some in ladder sessions and future tournaments. Great job, guys!
On February 11 2022 05:29 honorablemacroterran wrote: I haven't gotten enough of Hardwire and Berlingrad yet, sorry. Is Beckett going to stick around to keep trolling forever though?
I would take rotating out entire map pools 1-2 times a year rather than rotating out a couple maps 1-2 times a year. This is what is happening currently.
There is very little joy playing sc2 on the same maps for extremely long extended periods of time. This contest in particular is a great example of how many insanely high quality maps there are. Based on the current map "rotation speed" nearly all of the maps from this contest will never see ladder, just a small minority over the next 1 to 1.5 years. There will also not be another TLMC for another year which means that small subset mentioned is all we will have over that time frame. If there truly is a lack of resources to spend a couple hours updating maps every season, let's be smart about those 2 hours of time every 6 months spent on updating the map pool and just rotate out the entire pool. Or at least all of the maps but Beckett to keep the tradition alive.
On February 11 2022 05:29 honorablemacroterran wrote: I haven't gotten enough of Hardwire and Berlingrad yet, sorry. Is Beckett going to stick around to keep trolling forever though?
I would take rotating out entire map pools 1-2 times a year rather than rotating out a couple maps 1-2 times a year. This is what is happening currently.
There is very little joy playing sc2 on the same maps for extremely long extended periods of time. This contest in particular is a great example of how many insanely high quality maps there are. Based on the current map "rotation speed" nearly all of the maps from this contest will never see ladder, just a small minority over the next 1 to 1.5 years. There will also not be another TLMC for another year which means that small subset mentioned is all we will have over that time frame. If there truly is a lack of resources to spend a couple hours updating maps every season, let's be smart about those 2 hours of time every 6 months spent on updating the map pool and just rotate out the entire pool. Or at least all of the maps but Beckett to keep the tradition alive.
(:
To be fair I think it's more than just a couple of maps that got switched. I like doing it in a staggered way, personally. I don't think anywhere near all the maps should see the ladder, either.
Recently they took the approach of switching part of the map pool in a staggered way, not everything at the same time. For adapting purposes the latter wouldn't make sense.
On February 12 2022 16:45 Philippe wrote: Recently they took the approach of switching part of the map pool in a staggered way, not everything at the same time. For adapting purposes the latter wouldn't make sense.
Recently? They have always done this. The only recent change is they switch out a couple maps out every other season rather than every season.
A couple technically means two. They switched out 5 maps, so that's actually most of the pool. I am in favor of keeping the best maps of the older pool around for longer.
An interesting idea I heard was to have a 9 map pool. That way maybe more of these maps can see ladder, especially nonstandard maps, and they won't affect championships at the pro level.
EPT
Description: There was a thriving megalopolis here, before the Dominion decided to annihilate it.
Stargazers offers the opportunity to either play standard games or make things a bit more spicy by opening up the path through the pocket natural.
Description: There was a thriving megalopolis here, before the Dominion decided to annihilate it.
Stargazers offers the opportunity to either play standard games or make things a bit more spicy by opening up the path through the pocket natural.
