A few days ago, the 12th season of the national Warcraft ladder W3Champions started. The admins returned the old-school maps Secret Valley and Lost Temple to the map pool, a number of other maps were updated. Also, the administrators have added new icons for various achievements, and now you can watch games through FloTV directly from the game – without launching a separate client.
Map pool update
There will be no new “new” cards
Last season, Springtime and Rusty Creek maps were added to the map pool. According to the admins, the players have not yet had time to fully explore them, so in the upcoming season, new unexplored maps will not be added to the 1×1 ladder.
The return of old-school cards
It was decided to return legacy maps like the old-school Secret Valley, Plunder Isle and so on to the map pool. Each season there will be several such maps in the map pool, which the developers will gradually refine as needed. This time, the well-known Lost Temple and the already mentioned Secret Valley (they were chosen by voting in the discord) as legacy maps on the ladder.
- Creep camps on fountains have been reworked: now there are two killer gnolls and a golem that does not sleep at night.
- Gnoll camps have been reworked: now each of them has a gnoll brute instead of two killer gnolls (it seems that in the Russian version it is called “thug”, no?) and a gnoll guard.
- Expands closest to bases are now easier to clear, with trees acting as natural defenses. Stores are also “deployed” accordingly.
- New creep camps between the expansions and fountains closest to the starting locations allow the player to regroup and continue the game if the opponent forces him to retreat from the fountain.
- Improved visuals: more greenery and Ashenvale style details.
At one time, this map was immediately crossed out by all the elves, largely due to the lack of a tavern on it. But now, as we can see from the mini-map, there are taverns on the map, so you can play. Maybe.
Retired cards
Two maps will leave the W3Champions ladder for the upcoming season: Shattered Exile and Turtle Rock. The first of these maps was the least popular among the players, it was crossed out most often, and therefore the admins decided to remove it from the map pool. As for “Turtle Rocks”, this is a very old map, which is practically not used in tournaments; she was third from the bottom in popularity with players last season. It is very likely that in the future TR will be included in the list of legacy cards.
Updated maps
Echo Isles updated to version 2.2 (mapmakers SaveOrcas and rhythmt worked)
Stalemate situations often arose on this map: both players expanded, cleared maps, and then no one wanted to go on the attack. Therefore, the map was finalized based on the available feedback from progamers:
- A new mine has been added to resolve stalemate situations.
- Two green creep dots appeared next to the tavern, which are also needed so that players do not “lean” so hard on the lower part of the map at the beginning of the game.
- Movement paths have become more direct, and various locations like creep camps have become more accessible. Turtle corner points are no longer bottlenecked.
- In general, the map has become more symmetrical.
Last Refuge updated to version 1.5
- Past updates to this map have been very well received by the players, and the popularity of the map has increased compared to previous seasons. New changes should make LR even better.
- Wisp points around the main bases, which appeared in update 1.4, have been removed from the map (we didn’t plan to add them on purpose).
- Elf players can now make a more forward wall.
- Units running past can no longer accidentally aggro the lower mercenary camp.
- Placing wisp at the goblin lab no longer triggers murlocs.
Rusty Creek updated to version 1.2
- Other units can now be recruited in the Mercenary Camp: instead of a Level 3 Kobold and an Assassin, a Dark Forest Troll Priest and a Quilboar Hunter have appeared in the camp.
- Changed the composition of creeps on shops (more creeps with medium armor, creeps became less fast).
- New creep camps in the center of the map, which should allow players to continue creeping along the appropriate routes.
Springtime updated to version 1.2
- The green dot that guarded the central golden shah was removed from the map.
- A few more minor edits were made.
Twisted Meadows (2v2 map)
- The map is a candidate for returning to the 1v1 ladder as a legacy map, so mapmakers have already updated it a bit.
- The “layout” of the territory near the starting bases has been changed in such a way as to make it easier to creep at the beginning of the game. The “wealthiest” camp (5-3-1) is closest to the base, while the “outer” camp has been weakened (3-3-1) to compensate.
- Natural expansions are now slightly easier to clear. Clusters of critter critters near these points are now more symmetrical.
- Creep camps at the main base have become more “dense”.
- In a 1v1 format, players always end up on opposite spawns.
- The “layout” of starting locations has become more symmetrical.
In the 4v4 game format, new maps Monopoly (by rhythmt) and Vanguard Point (by Zucth) have been added. Market Square and Golems in the Mist were excluded from the 4×4 map pool. Ekrezem’s Maze and Northern Felwood maps have been updated.
Integrating FloTV into the W3Champions client
The FloTV service allows you to connect to W3Champions games and watch them almost live (3 minutes delay) as an observer. Initially, the program was launched through a separate client, but now it will be built into the W3Champions client. One click on the TV icon next to the chat button – and you can see the list of games, select the one you want and watch it.
New UI Theme: Proudmoore’s Legacy
New achievement icons
New and updated commands
- -draw
The team reduces the required number of voters according to how many players left the game. Thanks to this, it is possible to declare a draw in the game, regardless of how many players left it.
- -gg
Team for 4v4 games only. It allows players to coordinate and admit defeat so that no one is subsequently blamed for leaving too early and reported for leaving too early. 3 out of 4 votes are needed to implement the command.
Admins recommend using this command in every game in order to avoid situations of misunderstanding when one of the players thinks that the game is already over, and someone else continues to fight. In the future, the use of this command may become mandatory.
- -commands
This command displays a list of all commands available to the user.
Start of a new ladder season
MMR has not been reset in competitive game modes.
Ranking tables and RP have been reset in all modes.
Tournament following the results of the 11th season
The traditional final tournament will take place on July 16-17 (single-elimination Play-in) and July 22-24 (double-elimination main event). 16 players will take part in the games, the prize fund is formed through crowdfunding.
