The goal of any mapper is simply to see their map played and enjoyed by people, but they dream of seeing their maps used at the highest level of competition. The first TeamLiquid map contest allowed Cloud Kingdom, Ohana and Korhal Compound to be played on the ladder, and provided a pathway for the first two maps to become tournament staples. The results are in for the second season of TLMC, and we have the privilege of giving a new set of maps the chance to shine on the ladder and/or in tournaments.

In addition to this opportunity, the top three maps will receive the following prizes thanks to Blizzard and TeamLiquid:

1st Place: Mega Bloks Battlecruiser signed by the SC2 Dev Team, Razer Peripheral Set, $100
2nd Place: Kerrigan Action Figure signed by the SC2 Dev Team, Razer Peripheral Set, $50
3rd Place: HotS box art Poster signed by the SC2 Dev Team and Razer Banshee Headset

I know you're eager to see the results, so here they are:

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Honorable Mention: TPW Keru, TPW Koprulu
by Meerel and Monitor

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Keru and Koprulu are 5th and 4th place respectively in this tournament. Koprulu is a highly experimental map featuring the 'double sided expo' idea that was made famous by the Brood War map 'Outsider'. The map is so radically different to anything that we've had before that no one is quite sure how this map will end up - broken? balanced? aggressive? defensive? Welmu, the winner of the TLMC Open, seems to think it will be an aggressive map that will allow for some crazy games. Keru, on the other hand, is clearly an aggressive map. The positioning of the thirds and difficulty of the fourth means that aggression will largely dominate the mid-late game with harass and timing attacks likely to be the strongest strategies on this map.

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Third Place: DF Yeonsu
by eTcetRa

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Yeonsu is a beautiful map. The texturing on this map makes the map look like an alpine environment defrosting after a cold winter. That alone is a huge accomplishment, but beauty isn't the only factor which made this map place so highly. While the main-nat-third setup seems fairly standard, there are a few twists to make things interesting. Firstly, there is a 'forward' base designed to either be a fourth or a third - a Terran may choose to take this forward base against Zerg so that they can better stage attacks against a Zerg's third/fourth. Secondly, there is an island expansion which is something that we haven't seen in a while. Sure, Metropolis had some, but because they were blocked off we rarely saw them taken. With these island bases not blocked it isn't clear how they will be used in HotS -- will Terrans just float CCs over there very early? Will Zergs employ nydus strats to take them? What about Protoss? Expect this map to play out standardly until the mid-late game and then we'll see some interesting things happen.

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Runner-up: ESV Ravage
by IronManSC

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IronManSC, for the second time, places second in the TLMC -- truly a great achievement and a testament to his skill as a mapper. Ravage is a map which is dominated by a central high-ground spanning the entirety of the map. The last time a feature like this was used was in the infamous map 'Jungle Basin', although we're sure that this map will turn out far more balanced than that! The map has a standard main-nat-third setup, with the third being more exposed than most maps. While the fourth base is close by, it is very open allowing harass to be very effective. Players may choose to take the high-ground bases as a fourth instead, so that they can better control the high-ground going into the late game. Ravage is a refreshing twist on standard maps and we're eager to see how it turns out.

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Winner: CruX Frost
by Semmo

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Frost clearly won the public vote and narrowly edged out Ravage to win the pro vote as well. This maps appeal stems from the fact that the unique architecture of the map allows close spawns and cross spawns to have similar rush distances. All three types of spawns will provide for slightly different games and expansion patterns. There are two choices for third bases and players will choose which one to take based on their race, their spawn positions and their opponents spawn positions; both locations are viable in certain situations. Each potential third base has a 'backdoor' of some sorts which allows for harass to be effective. These backdoors are essential to minimise the power of Daybreak-esque turtle/macro strategies and giving the map a skill gradient which gives better players more opportunity to outplay lesser players. Frost is a worthy successor to Cloud Kingdom and winner of TLMC2. Congratulations!

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Full Results

Rank	Pro Vote	Public Vote
1	Frost	Frost
2	Ravage	Yeonsu
3	Yeonsu	Ravage
4	Koprulu	Electric Circuit
5	Keru	Koprulu
6	Strangewood	Keru
7	Electric Circuit	Strangewood
8	Khalim's Will	Insidious
9	Insidious	Khalim's Will

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The TeamLiquid map contest is only half over -- we still have the teamplay portion of the contest to play out. Originally we planned for a TL Open to test these maps but regrettably there isn't a timeslot for us to do this. Teamplay is inherently a casual/fun format and is meant to be played with friends. To maximise the number of entrants the tournament needs to be held on a weekend. However, the next three weekends are stacked full of top tier tournament action (Dreamhack, Homestory Cup, MLG Anaheim) which means that people would have to choose between watching a tournament and playing in a TL Open. We don't want to force people to make that decision, so we've come up with an alternative.

After the conclusion of Homestory Cup on the 23rd June, we will broadcast a special inter-TL staff tournament played out on these maps. The four teams are: TL Strategy, TL Writers, Liquipedia and TL General. They will compete in a GSL style bracket with the two "advancing" teams playing a best of 5 match to determine the winner. This way everyone will still be able to see the team play maps in action and won't have to commit a whole day to test them out. The precise details of this event will be posted next week once all the teams have been finalised.

In the mean time, please join me in congratulating our winners! I look forward to seeing these maps used in the future.