What makes a good game? It is all about the players skills, the chosen build orders, the micro and the macro management, etc. However without a decent map, the spark, the icing on the cake, the novelty in strategies and tactics are hard to come by. Everyone agrees that the map is one of many but very important aspects of any in-game performance.
Every time a new map is born and released, comments of all types are raised immediately afterwards. "Terran map", "Cheese map", "rushing map" are some of them. But the truth is, if one plays different maps, getting bored is not a possibility once each good map creates a new range of possibilities, strategies and even brand new build orders. Want an example? Try comparing island, semi-island with land and even with maps with cliff.
Furthermore, the mapmakers have a very unique importance: without good maps (and new, yes new is just as important too), the games tend to become more structured and sequentially similar. I say this to avoid outright saying "boring", because there will always be those that take comfort in the familiar, and to take perfection to extremes we need that familiarity.
Making a good map requires some particular skills though: game knowledge, a lot of patience, creativity and a continuous improvement capability. So, as most of gamers know, it is not just a matter of getting into the StarCraft editor and spending hours on it, and yes you do however need to go through this, but there is more to it.
The Bad Omen
A map maker who has surely has gone beyond many hours of just toying with Staredit is
Travin, the map maker. Recently not one, but two of his maps obtained awards at the famous Blizzcon Map Tournament. However he has always been an excellent map maker and he has already been featured here at GosuGamers.net several times in the past. It just took time for the rest of the world to give him the credit that was due. Travin has recently showed at TL.net his better and most polished maps. A Travin fan, 
racebannon has already compiled them, with their pictures, in the form of a map pack. Here at GG.net we posted a much larger map-pack of his a while back, feel free to find it. Anyway, invite your friends, get into Battle.net, give Hunters and Lost Temple a break and check how Starcraft still can give you nice and new experiences. After all, the main idea behind gaming is to have fun, right? Travin map-pack by GG.net 1 MB » Maps Only Travin map-pack by racebannon, 2.6MB » Maps & Pics //Submitted and written by GG.net Guest Writer
kmk)heaD, edited & touched by yours truly. 
Links
Panschk.de - Best Melee Source of Maps
Tl.net - Source & Pics of his maps
