BoV Map Tier List

[OEAO]

Putting together a quick tier list for all the BoV maps.

I'll update with links later.


Tier 1- Excellent tournament maps. These are the very best. These are the gold standard for competitive quality maps.
Tier 2- Satisfactory tournament maps. While these are acceptable for tournaments, they are more imbalanced than those in Tier 1, yet not horrendous like those in Tier 3.
Tier 3- Bad tournament maps. These have major flaws. I never want to play on these ever again.


Tier 1:
Bad Moon Rising
Black Root
Dance of the Dryads
Draugur
Embattled Fen
Fulcrum
Highways and Dieways
Invasion
Quasatch Playground
Stygian Rift
Ticalla Sunrise

Tier 2:
Badru Valley
Burial Marsh
Can't See the Jungle
Elswin Plateau
Fire Isles
Flash Fire
Fossil
Road Rampage
Sidewinder
Sirocco

Tier 3:
Arctic Divide
The Broken Skyline
Ember Canyon Road
Hot Heights
Ice Blossom
If you can't take the heat...
Marr Highway
Mole Hills
Ruins of Pine Tree Marsh
Swamp Thing
Turret Rocks


Thoughts and comments welcomed.

[Typhon2222]

Thanks for helping to keep cartographic issues in the spotlight! I love reading about maps, seeing them ranked, hearing ruminations about them, etc. etc.

[Dad_Scaper]

I would quibble but the worst offenders are all in your Tier 4, so we agree on those, at least. Ember Canyon Road should never have been admitted.

I'll have to look at this list more closely when I'm setting up my next tournament; I like the idea of sorting the supposedly "best of the best." Let us see which are the first among equals, and which are the worst of the best.

[OEAO]

I'm beginning to think the distinction between Tiers 1 and 2 are unnecessary... I'm going to rethink this a bit.

Edit: Combined Tier 1 and 2 for now. Also, I'll probably add other maps that aren't necessarily in the BoV that I've played competitive matches on that I feel are good enough to be on this list.

[mac122]

It would be helpful to see the reasons you have relegate certain maps to Tier 3.

[Dad_Scaper]

I don't know what OEA1's criteria are for pushing maps to the bottom tier, but the most frequent complaint I have about critically acclaimed maps that fall flat in my experience is that pathing is either (1) too tight or (2) too uneven to allow for open play.

[dok]

Fun topic OEA1.

Originally Posted by OrcElfArmyOne

Tier 1:
Bad Moon Rising
Black Root
Burial Marsh
Dance of the Dryads
Elswin Plateau
Embattled Fen
Flash Fire
Fulcrum
Highways and Dieways
Invasion
Quasatch Playground
Road Rampage
Stygian Rift
Ticalla Sunrise

Strong disagree on Burial Marsh. I really don't like that map. Ends up with lots of sniping across the gap in range vs. range fights, and it's distressingly easy to screen out double spaced figures and deny them adjacency. I consider this a flawed map and would look forward to never seeing it again. I'd place it in tier 3.

While I think they are all perfectly acceptable tournament maps, I would not put Black Root (can lead to some "stare across the gap" endgames), Elswin Plateau (not the best aesthetic use of the terrain IMO), Flash Fire (a bit too easy to clog up against double spacers), and Road Rampage (solid but kind of boring to my taste), in the "best of the best" category of modern maps. I think they are all pretty solid and don't mind playing them, but they are a step behind the others you place in this tier. I'd have these in tier 2.

Originally Posted by OrcElfArmyOne

Tier 2:
Badru Valley
Can't See the Jungle
Fire Isles
Fossil
Sidewinder
Sirocco

I personally quite like Fossil, Fire Isles, and Can't See the Jungle. I realize people have their objections to all of them, and they are reasonable. But I'm happy to see each of them in a map pool; they each bring unique challenges.

I agree with the others you place here.

Originally Posted by OrcElfArmyOne

Tier 3:
Arctic Divide
The Broken Skyline
Ember Canyon Road
Hot Heights
Ice Blossom
If you can't take the heat...
Marr Highway
Mole Hills
Ruins of Pine Tree Marsh
Swamp Thing
Turret Rocks

"If you can't take the heat..." doesn't really belong down here IMO. I think it's a great map; I'd have it in tier 1. Why don't you like it?

I agree on the rest of those.

Originally Posted by OrcElfArmyOne

Unranked:
Dragger (1?)

Yep, good map; I'd put it in the top tier.

[OEAO]

@dok - Excellent points. Those objections you had for the maps I originally had as Tier 2 just didn't translate when I combined the two lists- there might be 1 or 2 more I might want to bump down.

I disagree on Burial Marsh as a Tier 3- I like it quite a bit more than Fossil, per say. Those other ones I bumped down.

I really don't like Fossil, but Fire Isles and Can't See the Jungle aren't that bad. These two are probably worth more looking at for me.

I dislike If you can't take the heat... because Range + Raelin is excessively dominant on it. I don't have a ton of plays on it, but Raelin can protect that 7-hex height without even moving. While the jungle helps, it can still be very rough if the dice are even remotely even in my experience. Might be worth taking another look at.

[OEAO]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

I don't know what OEA1's criteria are for pushing maps to the bottom tier, but the most frequent complaint I have about critically acclaimed maps that fall flat in my experience is that pathing is either (1) too tight or (2) too uneven to allow for open play.

@mac122 Mostly this. I feel like most of the Tier 3's are pretty self-explanatory- range has an insane advantage over melee on these. I do admit that I should probably take another look at If you can't take the heat... The big thing with these is that range can take height too quickly, elevating their natural advantage over melee armies to an insane level.

[Cleon]

I'm gonna do 4 tiers:

Tier 1 - Great or even superb maps for tournaments. These are the kind of maps I ideally want to play on for competitive play.
Tier 2 - Good maps for tournaments and competitive play. This caliber of maps I expect to mostly play on in tournaments and am fine with. There may be minor flaws or some sway for certain armies/matchups, but nothing major.
Tier 3 - Decent maps for tournaments and competitive play. May be okay to have one or two in a tournament, but they're not ideal or recommended. Noticable flaws that you should be careful with if considering for a tournament; some flaws could potentially push it out of viability. All in all I'm okay if I run into a couple in a tournament/event, but nothing more than one or two.
Tier 4 - Bad to horrible tournament maps. These maps don't belong in the competitive scene today. Maybe they were cooler back in the day when there weren't too many tournament maps on the site, but nowadays there's plenty to choose from (and plenty of good ones).

Tier 1:
-Bad Moon Rising*
-Draugur*
-Embattled Fen
-Flash Fire
-Highways and Dieways
-Invasion
-Quasatch Playground
-Sidewinder
-Sirocco
-Stygian Rift
-Ticalla Sunrise
Tier 2:
-Blackroot*
-Can't See the Jungle...
-Dance of the Dryads
-Elswin Plateau
-Fossil
-Fulcrum
-If You Can't Take the Heat...*
Tier 3:
-Arctic Divide
-Badru Valley
-Burial Marsh
-Fire Isles
-Hot Heights
-Ice Blossom*
-Road Rampage
-Swamp Thing
Tier 4:
-Broken Skyline
-Ember Canyon Road
-Marr Highway
-Mole Hills
-Ruins of Pine Tree Marsh
-Turret Rocks

*=Maps I've either never played on before and am speculating their tier or maps I need to play on again to give a more confident placement.

Cool thread

[ollie]

I'm not sure I buy the premise here. For a tournament, it's not whether individual maps are great or not, but about the selection overall. If they're all more range-friendly than average, that's fine---bring guns. If there's a spread of different types, you need a more balanced army, or take your chances. Etc.

That said, I love both Fire Isles and Turret Rocks, and am always happy to see Mole Hills too.

[Dad_Scaper]

I think that variety at an event is important, too, Ollie, but Ember Canyon Road sucks. So there's that.