Hey WoS-ers! I'm sad to say that I'm going to step down from my role as WoS judge. I've very much enjoyed my time working with the project, but it's time.
I still enjoy looking at, playing, and evaluating new maps, but over the past while I've felt that it's the right time to step down as I no longer feel like the frog fit for the job. There are myriad reasons (as there always are), but mainly I just don't have the drive for the project and have begun to see it more as an obligation than an opportunity, which is always a good sign for me to step out of the way of those who do see it as an opportunity.
I was hoping to end with at least one, if not more, final reviews for maps before I stepped out, but I don't have any ready and don't want to force out less-than-quality reviews. Fortunately with the WoS structure that won't be a huge deal, but I am sorry to the judges anyway.
WoS is great! Let's keep these 'Scapers busy with more submissions!
Flaxxen Shard:
So in the first nomination I was about to post a yes vote when timer hit. I was happy it was re-nominated, so I think it is a very balanced map, and quite dynamic but it clearly pulls left. This left pull makes all the games playing a bit similar where the army with the range advantage will camp on left and the army with less range willl attack it directly or try to claim hill in the middle (the ruin really help to hide before claiming center hill btw a very cool feature).
In too many games I played a good half of the map was never touched.
So no balance problem or anything just sightly too repetitive to deserve a spot in the WoS in my opinion. No to indcut.
I'd like to nominate
[snip]
Flaxen Shard by @Ulysses
Link to PDF
This map was used in OHS Season 57 as well as at Hexicon II.
I'd like to nominate 2 maps.
Firstly, Alta by @Flash_19
Link to PDF
This map was used at Scape Summit, as well as in OHS Season 55.
I haven't played too many games on this one myself, but the map got a really good reception from those who attended Scape Summit. To quote a couple of people in the Tournament Map Feedback thread:
I realise that this map is certain to receive a downvote from Ken due to the terrain requirements, however the map is good enough that I think it's worth nominating anyway.
The second map I'd like to nominate (or perhaps that should be re-nominate) is Flaxen Shard by @Ulysses
Link to PDF
This map was used in OHS Season 57 as well as at Hexicon II.
This map is really good and didn't deserve to time out at 2-2 last time. Besides the tournaments that I mentioned, this map has been used at numerous monthly events over the last year, and has had several high-profile games featured on it, such as the final match of Sir Heroscape's CCL Championship series, or the recent finals of OHS 57. One of the WoS judges who didn't vote on the map last time has publicly stated that they were going to upvote but didn't end up submitting their vote before the deadline, and I think there is a genuine chance that Flaxen Shard could become the first map to be inducted into the WoS with a final result of 6-2. (Assuming that neither OEAO or Ken change their vote from last time).
(Also, as an aside, the issue with the glyphs on this map not having adjacent height is overblown imo. On a lot of modern maps, the glyphs often don’t feel worth taking (unless it’s a powerful glyph like Valda or Dagmar) because the figure on the glyph has to give up height advantage to the opponent. I find the lack of adjacent height on Flaxen Shard really refreshing, as it means I might actually consider grabbing a weaker glyph like Lodin or Lorja Ivor - something that I would almost never do otherwise. I realise this is probably not going to change anyone's opinion of the map outright, but it's something I thought was worth mentioning, since all 4 judges who voted brought this feature up as a minor grievance last time.)
I would like to nominate Dredgewood Forest and Frostmire for WoS's consideration. Both maps were played at Scapecon IV and have been played at numerous events before, and have proven to be strong competitive maps. They also both use set combinations that are already represented in the WoS, but do their combinations in distinctly different ways. They have been some of my favorite maps to play on recently and always provide excellent gameplay.
Dredgewood Forest
Spoiler Alert!"Dredgewood blew it out of the water not just for me, but a seeming majority of the attendees at the con. I’ve said it before, but I’ll repeat it because it needs saying: it’s been a minute where we’ve had a standout Rise/ RttFF x2 map that does something different from H&D. There’s not much I can say that I haven’t already said, everything on this map just works. Height is well placed, road segments the map very well, and there’s enough neutral ground in the middle that is rich for brawling. The only complaint I have is the less-than-clear SZ’s, the confusing part being that the 2-hex water in the back is part of the SZ and the front pool isn’t, though it isn’t the biggest issue in the world. Really liked this map, and I expect it to see more and more gameplay as time goes on."
Frostmire
Spoiler Alert!"I had the pleasure of playing Frostmire for the first time back at SC East last year and was very happy to see it’s inclusion at this year’s Scapecon. In my past review I had stated it’s a map that’s “simple in appearance but quite vibrant in its gameplay,” and I still stand by that opinion. It offers many decent choices for range and melee, the level 3 snow 2-hex is good for range but close enough to the middle to be easily approached from the other side, and the middle offers good jungle coverage and tempting single hex perches to snag. The sides are also dynamic and sort of feel like you’re playing on a different kind of map while you’re there, it’s really quite neat. It was one of my favorite maps at SC East and it was one of my favorites here at SC IV. Truly a stellar design."
I'd like to nominate two maps of mine:
Guts
Tournament Use
- MARS Philadelphia - Valhallan Valetines' Day
- Peoria Monthlies 2024- AoA Returns!
- Hexicon II
This version of Guts also saw play in the playoffs of OST S6 Alliance Pod Draft
Very grateful this map has seen so much play recently. Guts is fairly new to the tournament scene, but I'm nominating it to WoS today because there are not many tournament maps with this set combination (Hot Fulcrum, If You Can't Take the Heat..., and ...Stay Out of the Kitchen are the only maps that come to mind) and none have been inducted.