Grand Tournament Group Stage Update

The Grand Tournament group stage is still underway, and it's really starting to heat up now as we get down to the last few games in each group. There are some great games being played whose outcomes will directly decide the seedings for the knockout round. I wanted to take a moment to go through group by group and highlight some of the action taking place.

Group A
Group A is one of the few groups that is entirely finished. Ultra Storm won all four games to lock up the 1st seed, while Desklamp is also advancing to the winner's bracket in the knockout round. Rush_FTK and DarthBowser will also be advancing as the 3rd and 4th seeds, while robotreboot's tournament run is over and he is eliminated.

Ultra Storm and Desklamp will face the winner/runner-up of Group P in the first round of the knockout stage.

Group B
Group B is locked in a heated battle, with all three top spots still up for grabs. The remaining two games are between ymouba and Cereal Killer and between taviroww and ymouba. Here are the possible outcomes:

1. Ymouba wins out --> 1. ymouba, 2. taviroww, 3. CK
2. Ymouba beats CK, loses to taviroww --> 1. taviroww, 2. CK, 3. ymouba
3. Ymouba beats taviroww, loses to CK --> 1. CK, 2. ymouba, 3. taviroww
4. Ymouba loses out --> 1. taviroww, 2. CK, 3. ymouba

As you can see, depending on the outcome, anyone can get any position. Both games are currently more or less even, so it will be very tense as they continue on. The 1st place finisher will get a knockout round match with either Mr--Clean, Zogar1993 or Tequila, while the 2nd place finisher will get a game against japanj. Erniewan will be advancing as the 4th seed in Group B, while Emperor81 has been eliminated.

Group C
The only thing still undecided in Group C is the victor, as Lalann and fdkanns have each vanquished their other three opponents and are now playing for the 1st and 2nd seed. The winner of the group will be playing TotalFire in the first game of the knockout round, while the loser will be playing against excrimophalus -- neither one an enviable matchup.

Evilemario and Uthief are advancing as the 3rd and 4th seeds, while exelon has been eliminated.

Group D
Group D is finished, although not every game has ended. ANT13 has wrapped up 1st place in the group -- even if he loses his current game with blozzee, he will still have the tiebreaker over willy. Similarly, the win does not move blozzee from last place, as he loses the tiebreaker against Haxxson. ANT13 and willy will be facing either black_wave, ichbinsehselber, or grandline in the first round of the knockout. The Pasta King and Haxxson are advancing as the 3rd and 4th seeds, and blozzee has been eliminated.

Group E
Group E is essentially finished, as Kruegster clinched the group victory recently with his win over 1000rpm. 1000rpm and godhammel are still technically battling for 2nd, but the game is over and is just waiting for godhammel's resignation. Barring a miracle (or boot) 1000rpm will finish in 2nd and godhammel in 3rd. D-american_soldier advances as 4th in the group.

Kruegster and 1000rpm will play either Abroxas, xepa, or the Weakest Xiaoniao in the first round of the knockout.

Group F
Group F has the potential to turn into a 3-way tie also, based on how the group finishes. Kamuscha is currently in good position to win the group, assuming he wins his game against oswaldoo -- which is by no means assured. Here are the situations:

1. oswaldoo wins out --> 1. oswaldoo, 2. Kamuscha, 3. ElectricWolf, 4. tale
2. oswaldoo loses to Kam, beats tale --> 1. Kamuscha, 2. oswaldoo, 3. ElectricWolf, 4. tale
3. oswaldoo beats Kam, loses to tale --> 1. oswaldoo, 2. Kamuscha, 3. ElectricWolf, 4. tale
4. oswaldoo loses out (3-way tie) --> 1. Kamuscha, 2. tale, 3. ElectricWolf, 4. oswaldoo

It looks like oswaldoo is losing to tale, which would lead us to the tied situation.

81suibylop has already been eliminated. The Group F winner will face either airob or SM Ephraim in the next round, while 2nd place will face felix45.

Group G
All positions are still wide open in Group G, as there are still quite a few games going on. Walker is in the lead with 2 wins and no losses, though shompiador is still undefeated as well, and funwes and jackcool only have one loss apiece. One thing to note is that shompiador has been AET'd from each of his 3 remaining games, making it quite likely he will lose all 3. In that case, he will still finish in 4th in the group ahead of marxistplot, who he has a tiebreaker over. Jackcool and funwes would both need to win out to finish in 1st in the group.

The Group G winner and runner-up will face either benbever or Black Mont-Blanc in the first knockout round.

Group H
Group H is almost as up in the air as Group G is. Zombiegeologist is playing games against 2 of the remaining players, while Diwa and NDA|D007 are also playing each other. However, NDA's game with Diwa will likely decide the group winner. There is a lot still in play in this group, but I'd keep an eye on this game and this game in particular.

The Group H winner/runner-up will face the Group I winner/runner-up (which is still quite undecided). NGC6240 has been eliminated from Group H.

Group I
Hellraider is currently in control of Group I, having won his first three games. Unless the unexpected happens and he loses his game versus khdou, he will clinch the group victory. The only other game remaining is sarastro vs. khdou, which sarastro appears to be on the verge of losing. If khdou beats sarastro and loses to Hellraider, yet another 3-way tie will occur. Anyways, here are the possible outcomes:

1. khdou wins out --> 1. khdou, 2. Hellraider, 3. sarastro, 4. Dogysamich
2. khdou loses to Hellraider, beats sarastro (3-way tie) --> 1. Hellraider, 2. sarastro, 3. khdou, 4. Dogysamich
3. khdou beats Hellraider, loses to sarastro --> 1. Hellraider, 2. sarastro, 3. Dogysamich, 4. khdou
4. khdou loses out --> 1. Hellraider, 2. sarastro, 3. Dogysamich, 4. khdou

As you can see, in most situations Hellraider will end up in first, while sarastro will finish 2nd or 3rd, and khdou can't do better than 3rd unless he wins out.

The Group I winner/runner-up will face the Group H winner/runner-up. NorthernRebel27 has already been eliminated.

Group J
Nothing has been decided yet in what could be considered the Group of Death, with exactly half of the games finished. Black Mont-Blanc and benbever have taken control of the group with two wins apiece, and their game against each other will likely decide the group winner. Meanwhile, headphone looks to be winning his game against nyvelion, and losing his game against BMB, which would settle him into 3rd place if both results occurred. Meanwhile, nyvelion and OA__Stupid are fighting not to be eliminated, although 1st round boots are hurting both.

The Group J winner/runner-up will face the Group G winner/runner-up.

Group K
Felix45 has already clinched his position as first place in Group K, having won all four round robin games. The only battle remaining is between airob and SM Ephraim, the winner of which will take 2nd place in the group. The game is relatively even, although airob has a slight edge having managed to grab both towers.

Felix will face the runner-up of Group F in the knockout round, while the winner of airob/SM Ephraim will likely face Kamuscha. Grit Snipe will advance as 4th place in Group K, while newfreshd has been eliminated.

Group L
The battle for the top three spots in Group L is still very much on. The Weakest Xiaoniao has the advantage with a 3-0 record, but could end up in 2nd, depending on the outcome of his game with xepa. Meanwhile, if xepa wins against Xiaoniao and loses to Abroxas, we will have another 3-way tie, which would place Abroxas in 1st, xepa in 2nd, and Xiaoniao in 3rd. If xepa loses both games, Xiaoniao will get 1st, Abroxas 2nd, and xepa third.

The Group L winner will likely face 1000rpm in the first round, while the runner-up will face Kruegster. Mapster076 will advance as the Group L 4th seed, while itsmyflow has been eliminated.

Group M
There appears to be some strange diplomacy taking place in Group M between black_wave and grandline, who agreed to a draw in their game. Currently both players are tied for first, and each one has a running game with ichbinsehselber. If ichbin wins both games, then black_wave and grandline would be in a tie for 2nd, which would result in black_wave finishing 2nd and grandline finishing 3rd, and if ichbin loses both games black_wave would get 1st, grandline would get second, and ichbin would get third.

The Group M winner will play willy in the first round, while the runner-up will play ANT13. Meanwhile, zaaps1 has secured a position in the knockout round as the 4th seed, and UTP has been eliminated.

Group N
Group N is in the same position as Group A -- completely finished. Excrimophalus has locked up first place, with the tiebreaker over TotalFire. CoolJets has locked up 3rd place, eanddlewis finished in 4th, and sm00040 has been eliminated.

Excrimophalus and TotalFire will face either fdkanns or Lalann in the first round.

Group O
Japanj has locked up the win in Group O, but the fight for 2nd place isn't decided yet. The lone remaining game is between Mr--Clean and Tequila. If Mr--Clean wins, he gets 2nd, Zogar1993 gets 3rd, and Tequila gets 4th. If Mr--Clean loses, it sends the group into a 3-way tie for 2nd, and Tequila would get 2nd, Mr--Clean would get 3rd, and Zogar would get 4th.

Japanj and the runner-up will face the winner/runner-up from Group B in the first round. TGAL05 has been eliminated.

Group P
Finally, we have Group P, which has only 2 games remaining to be finished: dorian5 vs. akiyoshi and TheMute vs. akiyoshi. There are four possible scenarios that could occur, which I'll outline.

1. Akiyoshi wins out --> 1. akiyoshi, 2. dorian, 3. Mute, 4. random
2. Akiyoshi beats dorian, loses to Mute --> 1. dorian, 2. Mute, 3. random, 4. akiyoshi
3. Akiyoshi beats Mute, loses to dorian --> 1. dorian, 2. akiyoshi, 3. Mute, 4. random
4. Akiyoshi loses out --> 1. dorian, 2. Mute, 3. random, 4. akiyoshi

As you can see, akiyoshi can go anywhere from 1st to 4th, dorian can do no worse than 2nd, Mute will finish either 2nd or 3rd, and random can do at best 3rd. The Group P winner will face Desklamp, while the runner-up will face Ultra Storm in the first round. Azzaphox has already been eliminated.

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And that's where we are with the GT2 group stage. I expect the group stage to last another 3-4 weeks, at which point the knockout round will start shortly afterwards. Good luck to everyone remaining!

Until next time,
Walker

Game Watcher 2/20/12

Well, I'm sorry to say that the blog's inactivity is likely to continue for a while. Unfortunately, both Hellraider and I are a bit too busy to put in the time and effort required to make more regular entries. I'm thinking about changing the format of the blog in the near future to make it a bit more manageable, but we'll still try to update periodically until then. For now, I just wanted to point out some current games you might want to keep an eye on.

October Cup Final - fdkanns vs. The Weakest Xiaoniao
Eagle vs. Hawke matchup on el rio acelguate loco!, currently on day 8. The game's dragging along a bit thanks to vacations and general stalling, but should evolve into a pretty good game over the next couple weeks.

December Cup Semifinal - felix45 vs. shompiador_kalabaza
Hawke mirror on Blood Valley, currently on day 18. The game is entering the late stages, and felix certainly has the upperhand. Shompiador is still fighting back, but unless felix gives him an opening, it could be hard to turn this around. The winner will face Walker in the final.

January Cup Final - walkerboh01 vs. sarastro
Andy vs. Max on Land of Ruin, currently on day 4. Could be another interesting game as it gets going, and I'm especially curious whether the map is open enough for Max to win an advantage day to day over Andy.

GT2 Group Stage - black_wave vs ichbinsehselber
Interesting Jake vs. Drake matchup on Beyond Eternity. The winner will likely take 1st place in Group M.

GT2 Group Stage - excrimophalus vs. TotalFire
A great Andy vs. Rachel game on Fulfilled Dreams, currently on day 15. TotalFire has made an ambitious attack, which excrimo is now trying to fight back. Could be very intriguing as it gets to the late game.

GT2 Group Stage - ymouba vs. Cereal Killer
Another Max vs. Andy match, this time on Poetic Justice. Interesting to note that Max has an artillery (a mis-click, according to CK), so we'll see how that affects him. Winner will likely finish 1st or 2nd in Group B.

GT2 Group Stage - fdkanns vs. Lalann
A third Max vs. Andy (seems to be a popular matchup!), on yet another map, Elstar. Fdkanns has taken an early funding advantage, though Lalann is pressing hard in the south to win back the city. Quite likely will decide Group C.

GT2 Group Stage - benbever vs. Black Mont-Blanc
The last time these two played (in the original GT), the game lasted 6 months and took over 30 days in-game, resulting in a BMB victory by default. Hopefully it goes a little quicker this time, but either way the Adder vs. Drake matchup on Fulfilled Dreams will definitely be one worth watching.

Colosseum Season 6 - felix45 vs. fdkanns
Max vs. Andy again! Hm... this has to be a conspiracy or something. Anyways, Max (felix) is holding the upper hand at the moment in this game on Stormiest Glen, after an early push. Far from over, but should be a fun one to watch.

Colosseum Season 6 - Hellraider vs. Ultra Storm
This is the first match we've had between the players widely regarded as the top two on the site (though dorian5 might have something to say about that!). It comes in the form of a high funds match on Morning Glory, and Ultra is off to an aggressive start, having just launched a day 8 attack.

Until next time,
Walker

Map Makeover - Blood Valley

As pretty much every person who has ever designed a map on AWBW knows, it isn't easy to make a great map. There are tons of questions to consider, ranging from "how many cities do you need?" to "is FTA properly balanced?", and even to "would that forest be better off here, or here?", and it's hard to get it all right. As a result, there are quite a few fun maps on the site that do a lot of things well, but are a couple minor flaws away from being truly excellent maps.

Of course, part of the Map Committee's job is to give people advice on how to edit and improve their maps to help these maps over the hump. Sometimes, though, it's just easier to show than tell. So I'm starting a new feature on the blog today called "Map Makeover", where I'll take a map with a few minor problems, and remake it into what I consider a "fixed" version.

Today, I'll be talking about this map made by tst5384:

Blood Valley

Overview
Blood Valley is a fairly well-made map, and shouldn't be terrible for casual games. It's pretty mountainous and a little choky, but it makes up for it with relatively light terrain (read: lots of roads) and a lone base that can be easily pressured. The map is well balanced; recon-rushing of the neutral base isn't possible, the towers are central but not contested, and the city count is relatively even for each base. It has nice positioning for the preowned bases, which allow tanks to make it to the fronts in a quick amount of time, while not forcing routes for units to take. The corner neutral base is also a nice dynamic, as it provides a bit of a 2 vs. 1 base situation after coming into play a few turns in. Finally, there is a strategic decision to be made about breaking the pipe seam, which takes an arty a couple of turns to break but allows units to more easily support the properties behind the mountain range. All in all, not a bad map.

Where It Went Wrong
First, let's consider the neutral base. The corner positioning is nice because it allows attacks to come from a different direction than the preowned bases, and it opens another front in the corners to help prevent stalemates in the center. Unfortunately, the terrain around the neutral base is waaay too heavy. Mech spam from this base is a natural tactic, since they can get over the mountains and rivers quicker than infantry, and can get to the fronts more quickly and cheaply than tanks (as shown in the below game by Teal Galaxy - played by Abroxas).

Another problem with the heavy terrain in the corner is that it closes off mobility in the area. It's hard to get anything except mechs and infs out from near the base quickly, and it's even harder to reinforce the neutral base area with units from the main bases. This makes it easy to get pinned in the corner.

Second, let's look at the HQs and airports, which both suffer from being positioned further back than necessary. The HQs are way back by the preowned bases, which means that a game ending by HQ capture will only happen once one side has been driven way back from the fronts. Similarly, the airports are stuck in the corners, where it takes 3 days to get into a useful position.

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After the makeover, let's see what the edited version of this map looks like compared to the original:

Blood Valley

VS.

Bleeding Valley

Changes
1. Neutral base moved slightly forward. This allows vehicles to more easily move towards the front.

2. Terrain in the neutral base corners greatly reduced. This reduces the viability of mech spam and allows for more vehicle mobility in the corners.

3. HQ moved into a less protected area. This creates a need to protect the HQ in case of a base trade, and prevents decided games from dragging out.

4. Airport moved forwards a few spaces. This changes it so that air units are only 3-4 spaces behind units built from the bases, which makes air units more viable. This is especially nice because of the relatively high funding and chokiness of the map.

5. Extra path added through mountains to support neutral base/HQ. This gives more mobility and options for switching units from one front to another. Also helps prevent possible surprise HQ capture.

6. Towers moved slightly backwards. This makes the cities the focal point of the central battle instead of the towers, making it harder for one player to gain a 2-tower advantage over the other.

Until next time,
Walker