We've seen and tested out the finalist maps, and now's your chance to vote on them! All of our finalists have had the chance to iterate on their maps and feedback so be sure to give them another close look.
FINALISTS
Standard Maps
A total of 64 maps were submitted to this category. In this category, the judges looked for maps that were well-executed or gave us slight deviations from what we're used to.
Crystal Cavern | Meavis
Changelog:
Moved the natural expansion closer to the main and natural ramp
Choked of 1 of the paths leading into the third to reduce the impact of the relatively short rush distance
Changed the fourth base so that its easier to defend against pushes, but harass is slightly more effective
Added multiple new overlord spots
Added a set of rocks to make the side paths more interesting
Cyber Forest | Pklixian
Changelog:
Aesthetic update in order to bring the decoration in line with the map name, including additional trees in unplayable areas
Pushed the forward ramp in to create a choke in center while also allowing more space for Terran and Protoss
Added rocks to ramps on the center plateaus
Separated rocks in the center to allow pathing through the area
Compacted third base mineral line and moved a geyser in the main for consistency
Kairos Junction | Solstice245
Vote for this map if you think that sand is rough, irritating, and gets everywhere.
Changelog:
Resituated the forward expansion base and vertical third base mineral lines
Adjusted the overlord spot at the natural to be less vulnerable
Adjusted space around the natural and a few other bases to be less abusable from liberators
Adjusted space in and around the vertical third and the center base to try and make army movement for the defender easier
Changed the small black tiles texture to contrast less with the gold/white in order to be less distracting
Reminiscence | Youngrustler
Changelog:
Added 2x2 rocks to the natural ramps
Moved the natural mineral line forward to allow wall-ins for Zerg
General pathing improvements
Added doodads around the center for more clarity
Added sight blockers for all the 1x1 overlord spots
Year Zero | AVEX
Why vote for Year Zero? Well, if you want to have Amon Bubbles watch over your every move, and have a rectangular symmetrical map without a bunch of hostile turrets whilst still being a straight up standard map, Year Zero is the map for you! Pay no mind to the hellish tormenting landscape and just pretend it's the lush green beach map that you guys love to ask for. Red and green are contrasting colors after all! But, you will find no such greens in the harsh reality of Amon's Bubbles' domain.
Changelog:
Added a base to the southern high ground to help with late-game
Aesthetic polishing including brighter lighting
Rocks added to the center similar to those on Dreamcatcher
Minor fixes including tank spots and a cannon location
Macro Maps
A total of 46 maps were submitted to this category. For this category, judges focused on the ones that truly promoted macro play and had interesting layouts throughout the entire map.
Automaton | RQM
Steampunk! Automaton has fresh atmosphere that you have never seen in Starcraft II. This map allows you to change your stances by choosing different bases to take. It has a sensible layout to play normal games but also has tricky factors like golds, rocks and mains' distance to let you play differently. Give this a vote if you want to play varied games on wood panels surrounded by gears, pipes and steam.
Changelog:
Improved pathing as well as the efficiency of resource nodes across the map
Added small overlord pods to gold bases, and made other such pods clearer
Moved rocks in front of the thirds outward
Adjusted reaper paths
Doodad improvements
King's Cove | SidianTheBard
Bases are close by each other and far away from the opponent. Unless you can do a two base push and deny a third base, this map will most likely always get to later stages in the game. The outer edges are a little more open while the middle, especially when the rocks are taken down, offers many smaller pathways so pushing across this big map cause armies to constantly be in the open.
Changelog:
None
New Repugnancy | Sanglune
Changelog:
Lighting, pathing, and other small fixes made
Changed main base mineral line, also making the geysers adjacent to each other
Moved overlord spot in natural to the front
Made central base more compact
Improved ramps at the natural and between the third and fourth bases, also removing a tank spot
Changed high ground in the corner to low ground, additionally removing rocks, adding an overlord spot, and clarifying textures
Port Aleksander | Youngrustler
Changelog:
Middle base resources have been moved closer together
General pathing improvements across the map
Added doodads to the back of the natural expansion platform
Added vision blockers for all 1x1 high ground overlord spots
Challenge #1 Maps
Antigonus | Xancake
Changelog:
Prevented the reaper path from being able to fit a seige tank
Improved lighting / recognizability of the reaper path
Changed the lighting and visuals to create more contrast between high and low ground
Extraction | themusic246
Changelog:
Removed seige tank abuse spots at the natural and third expansions
Introduced a new texture set/theme
Lotus | themusic246
Changelog:
Changed wooden bridges to show more clearly on minimap
Added rocks to the high ground third
Made aesthetic adjustments
Stasis | NewSunshine
Changelog:
Slight adjustments to the shape of the main and natural
Removed doodads in highly populated areas across the map, for improved performance
No-Fly Zone at the top of the map was made smoother
Challenge #2 Maps
Crystalline Addiction | Xancake
Changelog:
Lowered the terrain level of the gold bases to make that base slightly riskier
Raised the terrain level of the RMTs around the top path to stop having units auto-attack them
Reworked the middle region to have a highground path connecting the top and bottom low ground paths
Rearranged and reduced the RMTs around the new center path
Changed the lowground textures as to create a slight contrast to the gray high ground
Ritual Moopy Temple | IeZaeL
Changelog:
Removed the Renegade Missile Turret pods on the far right side of the map.
Reduced the number of Renegade Missile Turrets in the central pods from 10 to 3.
Sudden Awakening | JaleVeliki
Changelog:
Added more space behind resources and under the main ramp
Added slightly more ground space around the natural and third bases
Reduced the number of turrets at the central path from 4 to 2
Added decals that show where air units are safely outside the hostile turret range
Large breakable rocks moved to low ground
Reduced the number of turrets on pods between main bases from 4 to 3
Reworked area around the gold base to allow for more space for late-game engagements
Prizing
At the end of the day Blizzard gets final say on which maps make it into the ladder pool but this is our chance to send a strong message! Vote for your top five and let them know what you'd like to see.
Just as last time, all the finalists have already won $100 for making it this far but we have some extra prize support from Blizzard to hand out to the top five.
First - $500 Second - $250 Third - $125 Fourth - $75 Fifth - $50
Vote!
This season, we'll be retaining the voting structure of TLMC9. As before, instead of just selecting your favorite five maps, we'll be asking you to order/rank them as well. Your favorite map will receive 5 points, your second favorite map will receive 4 points, etc... Thus, the map that has the most points, not the most votes at the end of voting will win TLMC11.
Additionally, you must comment in this thread for your vote to count. A simple "voted" will do. Of course, we encourage you to post which maps you voted for and to have a discussion about which maps you like best as well!
You have until Friday, Aug 17 6:59am GMT (GMT+00:00) to cast your votes for your favorite TLMC maps, after which the winners will be announced.
1.New Repugnancy: best map overall. Is standard up to 4 bases, but after that is very unique and makes the standard format refreshing and fun!
2.Stasis: solid, fun and nice asthetics. I find the gold bases alright; not too close to your main, not too far, and is easily contestable (is this a word?). Is also very easy to scout for them. The rocks on the naturals don't bother me since King Sejong had bigger rocks and we where fine.
3.Port Alexander: at first glance it was my 7th pick, but after clicking on it to look at it further, i noticed that is similar to New Repugnancy in a way, that they both take on the standard format and manage to do something very difficult: make it fresh and fun without being obnoxious. This is a sleeper. Don't sleep on it!
4.Cyber Forest: just a great map overall. Nice asthethics.
5.Extraction: reminds me of the good old King Sejong, so it should be fun, as KJ was! The rocks didnt worry me since we've had plenty of exposure of KJ strategies. KJ is the only map i can think where rocks opening paths to bases is actually fun, and not too obnoxious. Even walling off was very easy if needed.
What do you think about your map picks? Feel free to share with us!
1. Port Aleksander 2. Cyber Forest 3. Automaton 4. Kairos Junction 5. Extraction
After playing/watching games on all finalists in their original state those were already some of my favorites. Originally had Crystal Cavern in top 5 after playtesting but I'm not a huge fan of the changes from iteration phase. Reminiscence and New Repugnancy also got pretty close to top 5.
Dishonorable mentions for my least favorite maps go to Stasis, Antigonus and King's Cove.
I think I love each and every one of the challenge 2 maps with the renegade turrets. I wish we could just add them all. The map test games really made me realize that air units are far too powerful in SC2, and that they lead to stale gameplay when they can out-compete ground units. Terrain-dependent combat between ground units is what makes an RTS an enthralling experience.
I still think the BW high ground advantage needs to be brought back.
TLMC is the best event~! I wish I could get back into casting some of the events for it. That used to be one of my highlights of casting, watching the pros try and figure out new maps
I dont get it why Antigonus is so much behind but whatver.
Replace Year zero with Port of Aleksander then im fine. I think its a way better map with pathing etc.
Moody temple is a rly nice map just deisgn wise but seems voters dont want new stuff. So all challenge maps were shut down and i dont wonder to be honest.
If blizzard will give it a chance then go for it cause i think 3 standart maps is 2 much standart.