Marvelous Map Contest Round 1A

[MegaSilver]

Here is Quarterfinal votes for the Marvelous Map Contest! With 28 entries, There are 6 (A-F) polls, 4 polls with 5 maps and 2 polls with 4 maps. The Top 2 from each Poll will move on to the Semifinal polls.


Please vote for the maps which look the best competitively, not aesthetically. And feel free to discuss how you believe the map would play. You are allowed to vote for multiple maps.

The first set of maps for Round 1A are:

Toxic Thaw

Spoiler Alert!

Cross-Hatched

Spoiler Alert!

A Creek Betwixt The Sludge

Spoiler Alert!

Succession

Spoiler Alert!

Apocalypse Now

Spoiler Alert!

 

[caps]

Toxic Thaw looks interesting. I like the way the glyphs have cover from the height.

I don't like the "two hills" vibe I get from Cross-Hatched (I am probably overly biased against two hill maps), and the fact it looks like there is road on the highest level. Otherwise it looks decent.

A Creek Betwixt the Sludge is very visually appealing, but it feels like the glyphs should be between the 3-hexer and 7-hexer on each side. Their current placement is too much "my glyph your glyph" for me. I've also played on some other maps with the bridge in the middle that way, and it can be pretty unpleasant for some matchups (Syvarris or Kaemon Awa + Warriors of Ashra vs a melee army is practically broken on such a map).

I think Succession is the best one so far...

...but I'm pretty sure Apocalypse Now takes the cake. My only concern compared to Succession is the sight lines seem more open, but I think it's the better map overall. Will wait to see if anyone else's analysis persuades me otherwise.

 

[superfrog]

Toxic Thaw looks pretty good. I think the level 3 ice space near the center could be dropped to level 2 and that would improve the map greatly.

Cross-Hatched also looks good, kinda neat near-4-way symmetry. In the end it ended up feeling a bit small to me, and the level 3 glyph spots look to be a little strong.

Hard to make a bridge map that works, and I appreciate the effort here but I don't think ACBTS pulls it off. It's just too hard to counter those bridge spaces with melee.

Succession looks great on the table and I think its creator probably also is very attractive. Got my vote because I'm a massive homer.

Apocalypse Now also got my vote, well-placed jungle and shadow and obstacles and a dynamic middle.

 

[RainyDays]

Toxic Thaw looks pretty good. I think the level 3 ice space near the center could be dropped to level 2 and that would improve the map greatly.

Thanks for the feedback! I will definitely incorporate that change into Toxic Thaw.

 

[MegaSilver]

FYI Poll is Ending Friday at 11 PM Central Time!

 

[caps]

Toxic Thaw looks interesting. I like the way the glyphs have cover from the height.

I don't like the "two hills" vibe I get from Cross-Hatched (I am probably overly biased against two hill maps), and the fact it looks like there is road on the highest level. Otherwise it looks decent.

A Creek Betwixt the Sludge is very visually appealing, but it feels like the glyphs should be between the 3-hexer and 7-hexer on each side. Their current placement is too much "my glyph your glyph" for me. I've also played on some other maps with the bridge in the middle that way, and it can be pretty unpleasant for some matchups (Syvarris or Kaemon Awa + Warriors of Ashra vs a melee army is practically broken on such a map).

I think Succession is the best one so far...

...but I'm pretty sure Apocalypse Now takes the cake. My only concern compared to Succession is the sight lines seem more open, but I think it's the better map overall. Will wait to see if anyone else's analysis persuades me otherwise.

I ended up voting for Toxic Thaw and Apocalypse Now. I debated adding a vote for Succession, but ultimately concluded that it doesn't seem very distinct from many other maps I've seen before. Should I have voted for it anyway? Probably, but I can't change it now.