Season 6 Ladder Map Pool Update
Beginning with Season 4, we've been experimenting with prioritizing tournament-style maps on the StarCraft II ladder. Now, in Season 6, we're giving player-created maps the spotlight!
TeamLiquid.net recently hosted the TeamLiquid map contest to offer enthusiasts from the StarCraft II community a chance to show off their map making skills. The competitors in that contest were also tempted with the tantalizing possibility of seeing their creations featured on the official StarCraft II ladder. The contest was a smashing success and we had the opportunity to see the map contest finalists in action during the TL Open. The contest also gave you, the player community, a chance to share your opinions and shape StarCraft history by voting on your favorite maps in the wake of the tournament. The votes were tallied, the final winners were chosen, and the time has come! In Season 6, you can finally meet your fellow players in furious battle on top TeamLiquid map contest maps: Cloud Kingdom and Korhal Compound. We're truly excited to give such high quality community created maps a place on the official ladder.
Season 6, which begins the week of February 14, brings with it the following changes to the existing map pool:
Maps being removed:
(2) Xel'naga Caverns
Players have been enjoying Xel'naga Caverns since the StarCraft II beta. However, as this map is no longer preferred in a tournament setting, we've opted to pull it from the pool for this season.
(2) Arid Plateau
In the spirit of making every ladder map tournament viable, we added two new maps last season that would be true to that goal. We pushed some new features on Arid Plateau such as unusual natural expansions, and a lot of open areas around the map. Arid Plateau wasn't as widely accepted as a tournament friendly map, so we've decided to retire it from the rotation for Season 6.
Maps being added:
(2) Cloud Kingdom
By SUPEROUMAN and the other members of the ESV Mapmaking Team
(2) Korhal Compound
By monitor and the other members of the ESV Mapmaking Team
We would also like to recognize IronmanSC and the members of ESV and The Planetary Workshop (TPW) for their amazing work on Ohana, which took second place in the TeamLiquid map contest. We're currently working with IronmanSC to help fix a few bugs while ensuring we retain the intent of the map, and once those are done we'll be adding it to the pool for a future ladder season.
We will continue to change the map lineup on the StarCraft II ladder over time, and we'll also maintain our focus on tournament-viable maps to ensure the fiercest competition. Maps that don't make the cut will be replaced by maps that meet the standards set by major tournaments all around the globe.
Comments (137)
looks like fun anyways.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDD map.
Korhal compund looks excellent though so good job on that.
I love you Blizzard for bringing a GSL map in-game.
Good ridance to Xel'naga, didn't like the chokes anyway.
As the Korhal Compound seems somewhat non-standard in terms of expansions (or maybe this is just my impression), it looks like you're being innovative with the maps, as if there's a wind of change on the ladder. Looking forward to Ohana, it was a lovely-looking piece! And good bye to Xel'Naga Caverns is a good thing. Can't say I hated the map and it certainly has earned a place in the collective community memory, and it is a legend. At the same time, some rest from it is a welcome thing.
As for removing Arid Plateau, well, I haven't even managed to adapt to that map (and there seems to be some consensus it was a somewhat weird map), so better now than later and not enough data to base an opinion on. I didn't exactly hate it but it was weird on many levels, including the third that seemed easy but wasn't really, and the map seemed just a tad too symmetrical. But these are just tentative notions, nothing I'd feel strongly about.
Good job, keep them coming!
as a zerg, deciding which 3rd to take seems to be key in these 2 maps.
bye bye arid plateau, you wont be missed
Anyways, i've played the new maps abit and in my opinion they seem VERY good! This patch is going to be awesome!