Jandar's Summoning Circle: by
@
Flash_19
The first thing noticeable about this map is the tons of height in the middle. You know you're going to have to scramble to come out on top (see what I did there?), which can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it encourages aggressive play rather than finding an area to camp near your start zone. On the other, if one player gets established on height dislodging them can be a headache-inducing task. So, in order to test the overall tournament readiness of this map, we've got to look at how it keeps one army from steamrolling once they get a hold of the top of the hill.
First off, the LoS blocking columns and ruins are used well on the map. Figures can prepare to attack the high ground by utilizing the cover and getting in position to rush the top. The glyphs are also well-covered by blockers, meaning that even if one player has the top area, the other can still contest the glyphs. If the player on top moves to shoot the glyph areas, that usually opens them up to counterattack for the top.
The wide start zones also encourage wide use of the map. It's harder to steamroll a whole army up to the top through one route. Instead, often players feel encouraged to utilize the different paths. The road helps with this, particularly by boosting the lateral movement across the map. It can be used to rush height or intercept incoming troops. The size of the map, and subsequent movement required to make it to the top, also helps to prevent an army from steamrolling by making players invest a lot of actions into getting up there with enough figures to hold it. Rushing the high ground with only a figure figures doesn't give enough of a presence to hold it against a stronger attack, so a balance of speed and army presence needs to be maintained.
There are still plenty of things to nitpick about the map. A lot of terrain is required for it, and the map doesn't utilize all of the available features, noticeably the shadow spaces available with the Dungeon set. This is a thematic choice, but it does seem like a missed opportunity for further balance. It's also a very leveled map -- it always feels like an uphill fight as you climb terrain, which isn't my favorite map feature, though others are okay with it. I also felt that it would benefit greatly from fixed glyphs to help offset the high ground. Wannok, Dagmar, and Valda are great when they show up, but if you end up with a Lodin on the map, it's not going to help very much. Overall, though, I feel it's a strong enough map to make it onto tournament tables, despite my personal nitpicks.
I vote
to induct
Jandar's Summoning Circle into the ARV stuffy stuff.