Chae Jung Won, Commentator and Head of Operations at GSL, gives everyone the rundown of a new map in consideration for league play called Terminus RE.
At a glance it's a pretty average 4 spawn map, but deep down it has some more substance than that. Essentially it begins with one natural expo coming off the ramp, and a third just beside that off another ramp with no other entrance, providing any player with an easy third. With 16 total of 16 resource deposits all leading to a center area, which will more than likely be the central focus of the map, and no gold deposits. Accompanied by 4 Xel'Naga Watchtowers in close proximity at the 4 corners of the middle will give a good heads up of incoming movement. No floating expansions for drop expanding though.
Some matches that have been focused on for this are Zerg versus Terran, Zerg versus Protoss, and Protoss versus Terran.
Zerg Versus Protoss:
Some mild concerns arise, mainly against the Zerg players, essentially the Protoss Laser strategy will be easier and more executable in optimal positioning (opposite starting points) and will make it difficult for Zerg to hold back expansions on the Protoss side. The upshot to this is that Zerg will have a good ability to hold off attacks because of their fast unit reproduction rate, accompanied by the large distance for the Protoss units to cross map.
Now in closer quarters, such as side by side points, the players are put into an interesting position, where mineral line harassment becomes very easy for Zerg, with both fast Mutalisks and Overlord drops, or in the longer event, Nydus worm usage. Now the flipside to this on a Protoss point of view is that he can easily pull off a Void Ray assault with a firm forward wall, because of the 3 expansions, they can move easily and comfortably into any tech they please.
Zerg Versus Terran:
In this case, it may favor Zerg over Terran in opposite spawning positions, mainly due to the ability for Zerg to put up a new expansion wherever and whenever they want to. Considering the fact that they have 3 expansions within easily defending distance. Additionally, it will make it difficult for Terran to stop Zerg expansions, and eventual map control. Now, Terran can do a few things, with smart placement of units that have great defense, along with good marine medivac usage, they will be able to hold their own, especially with decent harassment from Banshees or Vikings.
On the closer quarters spectrum, things change with good medivac drops, as well as good banshee harassment, the tides turn and become very equal. Not like the Zerg doesn't have things like Nydus networks and Overlord drops, but their ability to defend their expo's as well gets diminished quite significantly in a closer quarters battle. That is what seems to favor Zerg play, is a decent distance apart so that units are replenished while the attack that is incoming is diminished enough to bring in the incoming replenished defensive force.
Protoss Versus Terran:
This map, due to how the units are between these two races, Terran should have upper hand with the stronger firepower of Barracks units in contrast to the average Gateway units. This will only take into mid game though, so this forces for more early aggressive Terran players, the more laid back macro oriented players will struggle in this sense. The reason they will struggle is that once Protoss can expand at least once and start building a heavy Gateway/Warp Gate army, the Protoss will gain the upper hand quickly, making it very difficult for Terran players to make their second and third expansions without heavy harassment and difficulty. This applies to both close and far positions. Realistically the matchups between Terran and Protoss will have a point of no return where if both players are of equal skill, the Protoss will have the upper hand if they play their card well.
The long and short of it all is that this map seems to favor longer Zerg match ups, but Terran and Protoss matches will be a little quicker with a lot of aggression early game and throughout.
Links
http://gomtv/net/news - Large scale map and entire review on Gomtv.net