Maps (cont.)
Scorched HavenThe long, thin, individual base areas have a fairly short distance between them. A lot of teams like to wall off this shared area, which can be effective in securing an expansion for both players, but leaves you vulnerable to air harass later on given the distance from your wall to your mineral line and the amount of structures needed to wall-off completely can severely cut into unit and tech production. An expansion in the back corner is quite isolated and can also be at the mercy of sustained air harassment if taken. With players having a tendency to sit on their easily defended naturals it’s a great map to contain your opponents outside that area and mass expand, especially to the two gold bases in the centre. However, if it’s an open game then these gold bases are incredibly hard to hold given the cliffs that encircle them.
Tarsonis AssaultTarsonis Assault has individual ramps, but the distance between them is quite short. This makes it easy to withstand early pressure, which many teams will try given the individual ramps. The base areas are quite small, so it's important to build neatly to avoid your forces having to dance around a maze if you experience any air or DT harass. The rest of the map is almost identical to Scorched Haven. The central gold bases are tempting and if you manage to contain your opponent then you should look to expand to one or both of these as soon as you can while leaving a unit on the very edge of the map to look for air or dropships.
TempestDespite being an 8 player map Tempest is the same size as the other 2v2 maps. The spawn positions are randomised like Metalopolis or Lost Temple and can mean close air or cross positions. The base areas are extremely large and as such are good for air harass, proxy pylons, drops or Nydus play. It's a good idea to spread depots, pylons or place Overlords around the area as soon as you can to make sure you have total visibility of your base area. The map has one Xel’Naga tower in the centre which is probably the most useful Xel’Naga on any 2v2 map and where you should look to setup your main army in a longer game. It's the only route between opposing teams whichever position they start in and as each starting position only has a main and a natural it means you have to cross this area to take a third. Camping this area, denying the third base and bleeding out your opponent is the safest way to play this map, although it can leave you vulnerable to drop/Nydus play. Early aggression can be difficult given the large cliffs that surround the mains; midgame aggression becomes slightly easier as the naturals are quite exposed.
A macro players dream. A shared ramp with two mineral patches each behind it make for long games with big armies. Early rushes can be effective as most teams will look to tech hard and fast, but the long distance between the players can mean the defending sides reinforcements can overcome most early pushes, so proxies are the strongest option for early aggression. Mid game attacks are rarely effective once a team has a strong defence on their ramp. Taking any more bases than the two behind the ramp can be difficult, so strong two base play is usually the best bet.
WarzoneThe best map for proxies. There are no ramps in the main, just a thin choke outside of each main base with a small distance between the two allied players. There is a ramp further up the map but it's very wide and hard to wall off before any early pressure arrives. There are also destructible rocks leading up to this area on either side, so getting greedy and ramping the far position is asking for trouble. The best way to use this raised area is to slowly secure it and maintain pressure on your opponents. It’s virtually impossible to have your entire ramped area safe from drop play or air harass so a mobile ground army and plenty of visibility are key.
