EPT![[image loading]](http://imgur.com/SIRV9.png)
The Map of the Month #2 Tournament finished today, and I had the chance to interview NrG's own dde, the victor, about his take on the maps that were used. You can see these maps by clicking on the underlined names. Huge props to him for taking time to talk to me!
iGrok: NrGdde, you recently hit 4k points in Masters league. You're clearly a top Terran player, and I'm excited to be interviewing you today!
I'd like to first talk about maps - the ladder maps and of course the MotM maps ^^. What do you think about the current ladder map pool?
dde: Personally, I think the current map pool is great, even though some maps favor some races. Since they have been used for a quiet while, I’m hoping for some of them to be replaced by new maps. The worst map is Blistering Sands. If the back door was located closer to main entrance or located not towards middle of the map, it could be a lot better. Personally, I think Lost Temple is the best map. I haven't really played any of the new GSL maps, maybe one game on each.
iGrok: You just won the Map of the Month tournament, beating ROOT.DdoRo in a close best-of-5. Did you enjoy playing on non-standard maps?
dde: Yeah, it was really fun and good experience for me to play on custom maps by teamliquid.net mapmakers!
iGrok: Well then, I’ll jump right into questions about the maps! First up: Ptolemy. Is taking a 4th base on Ptolemy too hard?
dde: If your opponent has control of middle of the map, yes its hard. But really, only if your opponent has huge in lead, otherwise it won’t be too hard for all 3 races.
iGrok: What did you think about the way the ramp was set up, with the destructible debris helping to wall? It’s a bit different than the GSL style of completely blocking half the ramp.
dde: That was a pretty cool move. That will punish players who go fast expand, so even though there’s an expansion at the back, you can’t really take it too early. I thought this was the best map out of 5 tbh.
iGrok: The other 4 player map was Marshlands, what did you think of that?
dde: This map looked nice at first, but I did not like it because depends so much on where two players get spawned. The game play will be totally different, and since the distance between bases area already too far away, it will take a long time to scout your opponent if you get unlucky. The backdoor rocks are interesting, but if you destroy those rocks, you won’t have the army to guard both the center and your base.
iGrok: Alright, let’s move on to Flower. As a Terran player, do you think Terran has an advantage on Flower?
dde: Yeah, to be honest I think It’s a Terran map because the entrance to nat is so wide for TvP. You can't forcefield it very well. As for TvZ, there are not many expansions zerg can take and actually defend them. Terran can pick which expo to attack easily.
I play on low graphics settings because I can have better micro on lower settings. So Flower didn’t look very good :/. I just saw some green blue red stuff all over, I didn’t think they actually had shape of flowers. It’s a really cool idea, but it just doesn’t work because many players play on low settings to use as little cpu power as possible, so they can micro better.
iGrok: The 4th MotM map is Neonights; you had some very strong timing pushes on this map.
dde: This map seemed a little terran favored, because the middle of the map is too wide. This is good for Terran, to position their bioball against Protoss army, and spread as much as possible to reduce colossus damage. It seems like this is overall bad map for Protoss. Against Zerg, Protoss need to throw down twice as many forcefields to hold roach + lings because it’s so wide, and it is hard for protoss to take the natural. In TvZ, I think zerg will dominate early/mid game, but late game, it will favor Terran. It’s very difficult to take a 4th.
iGrok: Mud Rock: it isn't exactly "pretty", but was the play good? :D
dde: Mud Rock was really interesting map to play on. I liked that it was bright, all the other maps are really dark. But not too bright! The rush distance was pretty decent, and the back door was nice as well. Even if someone can hold the center, there’s 2 more route to get to your opponent's natural. I expect early aggression, but people will play passive later on. There is one issue though: As you can see in my game vs DdoRo, the back entrance needs to be made wider somehow. I baited him to come and defend his 3rd base, and moved back up. I sniped his Colossi because barely 2 Colossus can pass thru same time. Maybe make it a bit wider and put a destructible debris, so Protoss can destroy that later on to make it wider.
iGrok: That’s a really good idea! This is why pros and mappers need to talk more imo ^^
dde: :D
iGrok: Of course the big question: Would you rather play on any of these maps in tournaments and the ladder than the current map pool? Speaking as a mapper myself, it’s really cool to see top players like you play on custom maps!
dde: Yes of course, that would make a tournament much more exciting. Especially Ptolmey and Mud Rock, I’d really like to play those in a tournament. I’m bored of ladder maps!
iGrok: Alright, well on to some more personal questions. You’re over 4,000 now. What does the future hold for you? Are you going to try to get into NASL?
dde: Probably, yeah I will give it a shot. And I will be attending all MLGs :D
Funny thing about the game on Flower, I just assumed proxy gate by DdoRo before the game even started. So many places for him to do proxy gates; if he didn’t make gateways at my natural, he could’ve made them at 3rd expansion. I’m used to getting all-ined. I always check those spots before sending my scout to the opponent’s base. That’s a sad part of being a 4k player, I get all-ined a lot because people think they can't beat win otherwise. I got all-ined 7 games in a row 2 nights ago. It happens in both tourney games and ladders.
iGrok: I'd hate that. But I'm sure you're still glad that you're at 4k ^^. One thing I’ve always wondered is, how do you pronounce your name? I’ve heard 3-4 different ways.
dde: Haha, just “dee dee ee” – just spell them. This was my brother’s account, he made the name dde just by hitting 3 random letters. Then I took over his account lol, so here I am.
iGrok: Before I wrap this up, any shout-outs you want to give?
dde: Check out Sixjax Gaming – Sixjax.NrG is an awesome team!
iGrok: Well thanks so much for this interview, dde. Looking forward to more great things from you!
Check out the Map of the Month Organization thread for more information about MotM, and vote for your favorite map!
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