Shadow Drifter v2
Creator: StarFlash251 || First Published: 05/18/2023 || Players: 2 || Size: 20x15
Categories: A-Rank, Base Light, Live Play, Standard
Rating: 2.58 in 89 ratings
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Comments:
StarFlash251 (05/18/2023 10:27pm):
Rework of the Original Shadow Drifter by ahanz¢e: https://awbw.amarriner.com/prevmaps.php?maps_id=69463

Mainly to help distinguish River / Sea / Shoal tiles from one another
FTA counter also changed to fix vehicle order
Ahahsoboo (06/16/2023 12:09am):
Just unenjoyable for a multitude of reasons.
Blueleader7935 (06/17/2023 04:37pm):
there is no clear path for 2nd player to get his own com tower its either lose too much or 1st has both towers
Tenryu (06/17/2023 06:28pm):
This map is a mess and should be taken out of league pool. For multiple reasons.
SharkBaitShaun (06/19/2023 09:04pm):
I would love to actually hear the "multitude" of reasons as to why this map is so unenjoyable.
eisen (06/21/2023 01:33am):
Very hard to read. Feels cluttered/messy.
Riuoku (06/26/2023 04:54am):
Very hard to read indeed, I would rather have less shoals and more rivers so it is pretty obvious where movement is allowed
and where it is not. Also would promote more interesting strats relying on blocking bridges.
Ranu (06/28/2023 10:34am):
Isn't very hard to read good though? It makes it a lot more interesting, giving people the opportunity to do manuevers the
opponent didnt see coming, making the one more attentive and skilled be the victor. If anything, thats praise rather than a
problem.
apple12312301 (06/28/2023 05:00pm):
Complexity for the sake of complexity. This map is just confusing and makes movement weird and unenjoyable. The only
option to avoid it is just mass copters and hope the enemy doesn’t know how to move their land AA, god knows I don’t.
Meta Rexy (07/04/2023 03:57pm):
This map is difficult to navigate. Base light, weak but convoluted terrain, and landers to
push units straight to the front lines make it very hard for newer players to handle.
Careful planning of openings and lander use will reward experienced players greatly.
Comm towers provide major advantages but are very difficult to safely capture if your
opponent is aggressive.
Copters are also critical here because AA isn't reliably chasing them with all the
obstacles.

Challenging, but rewarding when you win. However, I don't know if this is a good
league map for newer players due to the sheer difficulty of maneuvering through it.
Azarel (07/08/2023 02:46am):
I have Shoe's official stamp of approval on p2 opening: "so yeah idk what the new numbers are, but it's looking like it's a net positive for purple. as in if I'm purple, I will always do this opening" -Shoe

https://awbw.amarriner.com/2030.php?games_id=971219

Day 1: Cap Preowned City & Move Lander adjacent to mountain (in range to transport inf)
Day 2: transport inf from center base, move lander to the shoal tile (13,02) below the capping Inf from Day 1, and drop inf inside the Lander onto the river tile (13,03).
Day 3: transport the FTA Count inf that has finished capping to the center, drop off inf on the forest tile in range of enemy center City. Build Recon on Center base.

Win the game as P1 can't make tank and your recon can wreck havoc
Meta Rexy (07/09/2023 03:32pm):
^for everyone who sees this comment after the game expires on the site, check the Replay
Library on the discord server. This game will be saved and archived there.
Rock Golem (07/13/2023 03:50pm):
The extent to which this map is designed for Adder is actually really annoying. Can somebody explain to me, why exactly the bases needed to have bridges next to them instead of plains or roads? And why so many important places are exactly 13 spaces away from production? And why you hate Jake? Jake already has it rough enough as it is man. Why are you trying to force Adder mirrors? The mans winrate isn't even that good on maps he's good on. Gonna have to thumbs this one down, sorry Starflash it's a good concept but the map is ugly and needs to fine tuning to make it not so unbalanced in terms of CO match-up.
Rock Golem (07/13/2023 03:50pm | Edited: 07/13/2023 03:52pm):
Also you can just make a mech. God damn 3 out of ten? Maybe I won't thumbs it down. It's not that bad... It's got some good concepts....
JBaker1988 (07/15/2023 10:08pm):
I was a bit confused by this map, and then I saw who made it. This turned around how I thought
about the map and I can appreciate more the complexity that went into it. You definitely want
to run through some practice runs, but I appreciate this map.
Tinkus (07/21/2023 02:43am | Edited: 07/21/2023 02:44am):
To follow up on Azarel's comment regarding the P2 opening, I think the map needs to be adjusted to address this, as there is no easy way for P1 to counter this, and it allows P2 to gain to much of an income and positioning lead with very little investment.

I just played a match where I had full control and it seemed completely hopeless for my opponent, and I wouldn't consider myself to be very good by any stretch.
Floortje (07/25/2023 05:02pm | Edited: 07/25/2023 06:24pm):
The concept is there, but its boring and doesnt offer much room to reverse momentum
MontySigurdson (08/15/2023 07:09am | Edited: 08/15/2023 07:25am):
Meh. Can't say I'm too thrilled when I get this one as League map, honestly.
Might be because it relies very heavily on the Lander, which you can use to reverse momentum or make moves, yes, but your opponent will see it coming from a mile away.
Michigan Maneuver, for example, is a better Lander map because there the Lander can (and should?) be used for strategic purposes (like blocking), while here the Lander is just there to slow you down and doesn't offer that much in return.
It's very playable, but other League maps are simply better. ~~ 4/10
doctorSalt (08/23/2023 02:18am):
It's actually shocking how much better kindle, max, and adder are than any other tier 2-4 here
KingTwelveSixteen (08/30/2023 11:19pm):
The middle of this map looks like an abomination and it is genuinely extremely hard to read to the point I had to stare at it for
like a minute to make sure I understood how all the chokepoints and stuff works.
I hate it.
Meta Rexy (09/12/2023 12:24pm):
@KingTwelveSixteen:

You don't want to see the original version of this map then lol
JΩsh_Augur (09/15/2023 04:29pm):
small cluttered 2 base map yuck
The_Crafty_Cook (10/19/2023 04:38pm):
I hate this map and play 60% of all of my games on it.
Harmony Bunny (10/29/2023 08:12pm):
Map's universally hated. Just because it's made by a great player doesn't make it a great map.
I always wondered why some maps get to be S-Rank almost automatically just because of their creator.
Time to remove it from the league and send it to oblivion, where it belongs.
atrueboss (11/20/2023 08:38pm | Edited: 11/20/2023 08:39pm):
Why does the terrain need to be all mixed up though?
emptyshadow (11/25/2023 04:26am):
feels like i'm playing against the map more than my opponent, that's not a compliment, this map is a mess.
Silvera (02/12/2024 10:19pm):
I don't understand why people are saying the map is hard to read.
MontySigurdson (07/11/2025 09:16pm):
Removed from Live due to early city skip strats specifically for P2 (P1 cannot replicate these without losing out on the first tank while P2 still gets correct ABBA order when doing them).
MontySigurdson (08/16/2025 09:19pm):
Readded to Live.



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