[Daboo]

Blue post

The Season 3 lock will go into effect the week of October 10th. Season 3 will officially end, and Season 4 will begin on the week of October 24th. Season milestone rewards will be locked in at this time, and bonus pools will start over. Hidden skill ratings used for matchmaking and league placement will carry over from the previous season, so players who have completed placement matches in a previous season will only need to play one new placement match after Season 4 starts.

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/3279043205


- Seasons will only last two months (as stated in the previous blue post)
- Hence, GM placement will only be a week
- Season 3 lock on Oct 10th.
- Season 4 Starts on Oct 24th
- See 1v1 changes below


Blizzard update on map pool

The transition between ladder seasons is generally a time when we take the opportunity to make adjustments to the ladder map pool. In Season 4, the 1v1 pool will remain unchanged, but we will be removing the following maps from the 2v2 map pool:

(4)Khaydarin Depths
(8)Tempest

They will be replaced with the following maps:

(4)Lunar Colony V
(8)Magma Core

We have chosen to remove Khaydarin Depths and Tempest from the 2v2 ladder pool because expanding can be a challenge for certain team compositions on these maps, and they aren’t as balanced as we would prefer for other team compositions. We also wanted to focus on maps that start 2v2 teammates closer together at the beginning of a match. Lunar Colony V and Magma Core are maps that should address these issues.

There was some confusion regarding the map pools, here is the official statement from blizzard, and the real maps for Season. Even the community managers didnt know about this. I guess we can expect SEA maps to change shortly too.

After reviewing player feedback, we’ve selected a 1v1 map pool composed of tournament-configured maps for the upcoming Season 4 of the StarCraft II ladder.

Six of the eight total maps in the Season 4 1v1 map pool will be maps that have been used in tournaments around the world. In addition, Shattered Temple and Metalopolis will be returning to the map pool, with close spawn positions disabled. Two non-tournament maps -- Abyssal Caverns and Nerazim Crypt -- will also be included. Players can veto these two non-tournament maps and still have a single veto remaining for the remaining maps, just as a player would in a major tournament.

These maps will be removed:

Backwater Gulch
Searing Crater
Typhon Peaks

These maps will form the new 1v1 map pool:

Abyssal Caverns (non-tournament)
Antiga Shipyard
Metalopolis (close spawns disabled)
Nerazim Crypt (non-tournament)
Shakuras Plateau
Shattered Temple (close spawns disabled)
Tal’darim Altar LE
Xel’naga Caverns

Depending on the feedback we receive regarding this approach to the 1v1 ladder map pool, we may move further toward a tournament-configured map format in future ladder seasons. We look forward to hearing what you think, and we hope you all have a great Season 4!

[MooZfY]

Wow thanks for sharing !

[SuperHero]

Originally Posted by Daboo

Blue post


http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/forum/topic/3279043205


- Seasons will only last two months (as stated in the previous blue post)
- Hence, GM placement will only be a week
- Season 3 lock on Oct 10th.
- Season 4 Starts on Oct 24th

No information on maps yet.

Wolf posted this on team liquid though, quite nice to see terminus..but would this mean they're retiring Tal Darim?


I really havent got a chance to ladder a lot this season, and it's already nearly over

I certainly hope they arent retiring Tal Darim Altar cos i like that map and it would be nice to see more tournament maps in the ladder map pool.

Im excited about the new seasons because it will be interesting to see what league i am when a lot of the people who dont play very much no longer 'steal a spot' so to speak every season. you know those people that play 1 game and get put in a league and then dont play again forever.

[FaDeHellfyre]

One week GM placement, a sensible solution to a problem that the GM's were fretting over. Blizzard does something right.

[TAminimat]

Sweet I love ladder locks, I seem to win lots of games in them. And really awesome that Terminus might be in the map pool .

[NoThanXSPR]

cant wait for the new season and to play on terminus!

[DeNile]

Does mmr lock between the seasons? Or just ur league?

[Maynarde]

Originally Posted by DeNile

Does mmr lock between the seasons? Or just ur league?

Only league, your MMR still changes.

[xGKingdelete]

i doubt they'll retire taldarim, it's too popular

[antarnis]

I'm gonna lose my placement so I can play with bronze again Thats where I belong ;_;

[VoiD]

Maybe this will give me the motivation to start laddering again. I do love the season changes!

[Dox]

Doesn't work that way! :P

[sRFullstop]

I hope Searing Crater goes away, as well as Abyssal Caverns. They aren't maps that are particularly fun to play on... Close spawns Shattered is nightmare for Zerg as well.

[ETL.Branno]

wow, it feels like season 3 only just started. gonna see if i can get into masters before the lock

[Daboo]

@fullstop Close spawns is a nightmare for both zerg and toss. I think david kim was saying something about convincing browder to remove close spawns on maps, dont know whathappened after that.

@Delete12:Well, If they are indeed bringing in terminus, they'll have to remove one of the "macro" maps if they want to continue following their policy of rush/macro/normal maps. The oldest is TD, and they tend to like their own maps more than gsl maps(I think even last season it was a toss up between metal and TD for removal).

[Muldeh]

i hope antiga stays!

[Welshy]

yeah I find antiga a fun map to play on mul :P

[EveMassacrisM]

Hope I can haz Belshir Beach next season. That map is beautifully designed and balanced.

[MazEi]

I want more 2 player maps. Xelnaga Caverns is the only one now and that kinda sucks. Miss the days of being able to proxy 2 rax without having to scout for spawn locations(well you can technically do that on Xelnaga Caverns but meh)

[Zanderax]

The great thing about ladder locks is you get to boost your MMR and get into another league without being promoted which can be hard. Blizzard have made a good choice with this.