DOME ARGUS (2 saether tiles, 2 caether tiles, 2 fire tiles, 1 death tile)



Map Flow / Strategy:

This map is about zoning, at least for the early stages. Since it is long and wide, you need to be able to control the sides but also prevent anyone from walking straight through the center to your ship. Since you get two actions per turn, it is often better to bait the enemy to move+attack you, and afterwards you can double attack back.
Often times, you will walk back and forth on the saether and caether tiles and wait for engagement (therefore, don’t spawn a champion on the saether tile, so you can allow all 3 of your champs to walk onto and off it). Knockback and pull champions are very effective because of the center death tile. Since it is a large map, you will often have small skirmishes (2v2 and 1v1 on side), so it is important to have mobile champs to be able to swing to aid of different skirmishes.

The main general strategy is to put an offensive champ (e.g. bug, butcher) on the aether tile on left side, put a defensive champ (crank, corporal) on the right side near the blocker to defend from their offensive champ, and a midfielder to control the center (e.g. aurora, mary).
Butcher on aether tile can pull enemies into death tile, Bug on aether tile can set up for his ultimate on second turn if he can do a move+attack on first turn (potentially doing 6-8 damage after 2 turns, either to ship or killing a champion). and Mary on aether tile can do 1-2 damage on ship right away, unless they put an enemy to block your line of sight (in which case you can double attack that champion for 2-4 damage).
Other effective candidates on aether tile would be Baron, Harle and Corporal, but they are less common than the first 3 I talked about.
A great counter to the sideline ranged champ strat would be to use Sparrow ship (counters Bug & Mary on aether tile very well).

Picks/Counterpicks:

Example Team: Aurora, Bug, Crank, Corporal, Butcher

If they put Bug on the aether tile, spawn Harle(or Corp) + Aurora to zone it out (cumulatively deal 5 damage to kill Bug).
If they put Butcher on aether tile, avoid keeping champs on saether tile or he’ll pull you into death tile (also avoid horizontal axis of death tile). Butcher will often walk onto saether tile then back onto caether tile, building up to his ultimate. You will have to engage him before he builds to 5 aether or he gets a free suicide.
If they put Mary on aether tile, spawn Corporal behind blocker (can attack, and threaten knockback on 2nd turn).
Alternatively, if you have first move, you can place Mary 4 tiles away from their aether tile to get a first hit, or just spawn your offensive champ (Bug/Butcher) onto your aether tile.

SOUTH POLE (2 saether tiles, 2 caether tiles, 1 health tile, 2 death tiles)



Map Flow / Strategy:

This map is about controlling the center bonus tiles, as well as surviving the initial skirmish. If you gain momentum by killing champs, you can get your survivors to heal on the health tile before the new spawns can finish them off. The deathtile on your side is actually more of a threat to your own champions, since Crank/Corporal can push you into it (shockwave is also very effective). Since there will always be a concentration of champions in the middle, zone shells (3x3 effect area) have a higher chance of being effective. Always be aware of 3-movement champions walking onto the caether tiles, then walking straight up to your ship (always put champions as obstacles on those lanes). Because of the congested center, I find South Pole to be one of the few maps Luna excels at.
Backdoor and Teleport are very common shells on this map in higher leagues. However, I would recommend counterrushing (carry your own Backdoor) instead of bringing your champions back to your ship to defend. Once the enemy has pushed you all the way to your ship, it is very hard to comeback if they can kill off new spawns as they come out. Instead, bring defensive shells (LEM, Blaze, GOMP) to kill offenders. Butcher comes in handy because he can pull them away from your ship, then move to attack enemy ship.

The common strategy here is to plant higher-HP champs onto the bonus tiles while supported by ranged allies. Aurora, Crank, Martel are very good at staying alive and dealing damage,while Bug helps to finish off their target or you get mobile champs like Corporal or Harle to maneuver in and out for the kill.
Another strategy is to put Bug or Mary on the sides and try to defend them while they takes shots at the ship. This is very situational, as it requires your opponent to have bad champ placements, but the bonus tiles can hamper movement towards your sidelane champions.

Picks/Counterpicks:

Example Team: Aurora, Crank, Bug, Harle, Martel

If they spawn Aurora first near one caether tile, spawn your Aurora near the other caether tile to control your piece of the center.
Martel does well in the middle, because he can deal 5 total damage in one turn, which is enough to kill many champions or lower them enough for aurora to pick off. He is also a dilemma, either focus on the highest-hp champion while his allies kill you, or kill the other allies while he builds up his ultimate.
Crank is recommended as your first or second deployment, because on his second turn he is able to push enemies into their deathtile from many different angles. Deploy him 2 tiles away from caether tile.
Bring out an engaging champion before you spawn Bug right beside/behind it. The first champ will move forward and draw in a target to attack it, and bug can attack the target twice without moving. (e.g. Aurora>Bug or Aurora>Corporal>Bug)
Careful of Butcher, because he can run back behind his own deathtile and pull anyone on the health tile into it.
If they spawn Mary as a frontliner, attack her diagonally or just walk onto aether tile then move away from her line of sight, never allow her a double attack and always make her waste an action every turn moving into attack.

DEARBORNE HEIGHTS (2 health tiles, 2 saether tiles, 2 caether tiles, 1 death tile)



Map Flow / Strategy:

On this map, it is a war of attrition; you need to employ hit and run tactics, as well as ranged damage. Being able to attack, and then move back onto the health tile. Taking advantage of all the bonus tiles (health, saether, caether tiles) will determine who comes out on top.
It is very hard to get rid of champions that reach your backline, because there are borders preventing knockoffs. Because of that, many players carry Backdoor or Teleport.
It is important to keep a defender back, like Crank, because he can push champs against the wall. But to answer backdoor champs out of range, I recommend carrying 1-2 of: LEM, GOMP, Blaze or Scorch. Shockwave is always useful because of the middle death tile.
A great counter to backdoor on this map would be the Arc ship, which has empty gap in the middle of it. Although enemies can attack the ship diagonally from your backline, they can also be pushed off the map easily into the empty space of the ship (double-edged, as your own newly spawned champs can also fall prey to this). Playing with Crank and Arc ship is a lethal combination and makes him that much more effective as a defender.

Picks/Counterpicks:

Example Team: Aurora, Crank, Mary, Corporal, Martel

If you get first turn, you have a few options. One would be to spawn a mobile champ (3-movement) onto the saether tile, usually Mary to control the enemy’s saether tile as well (threatening double attack). Aurora, Corp and Butcher are all good options too. 3 movement is recommended so they can walk onto caether tile and back onto saether tile if needed.
You can also spawn Bug behind death tile to control the center, which can bait enemy to walk up to him and attack, setting up allied Corporal for a kill (Corporal goes onto aether tile, then knockbacks enemy champ that moved diagonal of Bug to hit him). Often times, enemy will spawn aurora behind death tile to counter. Just zap her once and retreat back Bug onto saether tile.
Or you can do a conservative move like spawn Aurora forward and see what enemy does.
If you get second turn, try to counter pick their placements. If they spawn Mary on saether tile, you have option of trying to control the same side (put Mary on saether tile) or spawn your champs on the other side (near health tiles).
If they spawn Aurora on saether tile, I’d put Mary on saether tile (to threaten double attack if they move onto caether then saether tile). If they spawn Corporal, its better to pick Aurora on saether tile. Your second pick on that side should probably be Crank, or someone mobile like Corporal or Harle.
One tactic would be that if they put aurora in that 2v2 saether side, spawn Aurora as your third on the other side, threatening to walk up 3 and attacking ship directly. They would need to bring a defender, and Aurora is much better in 1v1s than 2v2 because not many outrange her. Aurora excels even more because she can attack and retreat onto health tile on this side, and continue doing it to any melee champs until they die or are forced to bring 2v1. From here, she can still also easily swing to the saether side to aid.

NEW DETROIT (1 death tile, 1 saether tile, 2 caether tiles)



Map Flow / Strategy:

On this map you usually spawn two champs on the caether tile side (labelling champ-side), while only one champ on the saether tile side (labelling ship-side). Controlling the two caether tiles is very important, as it provides a shortcut to super and ultimate abilities. Usually on the champ-side, there is a very close quarters skirmish. On the ship-side, there is usually a taking of turns stepping onto the saether tile and backing away.
First turn advantage is very high on this map. Having first turn allows you to deploy bug first and control a wide area and deploy aurora second to cement your control over the area. On the ship-side, you are able to land on the saether tile first and can use the heal shell or earthing shell on bug to sway the battle on the other side of the map in your favor. If your enemy has first turn and deploys bug, you’re forced to defend his strategy instead of playing your own (if you ignore it, you give away control of the caether tiles). Luckily, there are many ways to counter the bug strat.

Picks/Counterpicks:

Example Team: Bug, Aurora, Crank, Harle, Corporal

With first turn, spawning Bug on the champ-side sets him up very well to reach ultra on his second turn. To counter this, trying spawning Aurora+Harle, or Aurora+Martel. If Bug attacks and walks back onto caether tile, Harle can go onto your caether tile and use his super to reach Bug for 3 damage (Corporal and Baron can also wallbounce for 3 damage with this tactic).
Second deploy is usually also on the champ-side, however it is not uncommon to spawn on the ship-side first to try to gain space first. Crank is the most common deployment on ship-side, as he constantly threatens pushing back into deathtile or wallbounce for 3 damage. He is also great against all melee, but deploying Aurora on shipside counters Crank very hard.
Deploying Bug or Baron to counter Crank is also a great idea, but be weary he can just walk past your unit and straight to your ship.

Do know that once Bug has blown his payload on the champside, he is somewhat weak and does not deal a whole lot of damage (which is the best time to kill him, when he's vulnerable and does not threaten with ultra). Also since he has low health, it is often easy to make a 1-1 trade afterwards. It is best to take the 4dmg ultimate on a champion than your ship.

Other strategies include trying to build aether on Harle and Martel with the caether tiles, but are less common than Bug. Also keep in mind that Luna is pretty effective on this map, as she can teleport over the wall and swing the favor on the saether side, setting up an unexpected kill.

MOUNT WHITNEY (2 saether tiles, 2 caether tiles, 1 health tile)



Map Flow / Strategy:

This map, I found, plays the most unique compared to the others. Map flow is less about moving towards each other's ships (vertically), but more about lateral movement from left side to right side. Commonly, two champions are deployed on the left open area, and one champion blocking the small path to your ship on the right side. It is the goal of the 2 champions to overload the one enemy defender, and the goal of your 1 champion on the right side to manage sufficiently against the 1v2. Often times, one from the left side swings to the right side, even early on, to even out the right side to 2v2. The most important thing is to always keep your units as meatshields and obstacles to prevent easy pathing to your ship, since the map is small enemy units can often move twice and already be beside your ship!

This map is similar to South Pole, in that it is sometimes easier to send units on your own counterrush rather than to defend the enemy rush. The best defence is a great offense! I suggest having Backdoor or Teleport, and having Blaze/GOMP/Exitus to help kill backline offenders. Since the map is so small, shells like Blink are very effective, combined with Crank they setup great knockoffs. Also, low-hp champions like Bug and Harle are very common, making LEM even more effective (as a rule of thumb, use LEM/Blaze/Scorch on maps where you commonly see low-hp Champions. They are also most effective on maps without healing tiles, as the damage is permanent without healing shells.)

The common strategy is to have a ranged unit (Mary/Bug) on the side dealing damage to their ship while you have another unit babysitting it. Another way the map plays out is all action draws towards the center. In this scenario, instead of ranged+tank, they employ 2 bruisers such as Harle+Corporal. I find that direct ship damage is the name of the game on this map, either by Ranged damage or Backdoor champions. End-game, often times you will see Harle deployed for a later Backdoor and Aether discharges fly out. So always be weary of enemy saether level.

Picks/Counterpicks:

Example team: Crank, Aurora, Harle, Mary, Corporal

As first turn, you have a few options. One would be to spawn Crank on the right side right away, and depending on their first pick, you can choose your second deploy to help on right side or just stake your control on left side. If they spawn Crank, I usually like to spawn Aurora two tiles away or spawn a ranged champion in range to attack him, then spawn your second deploy beside your ranged to threaten double attack if he walks up to attack your ranged champ.
Another would be to spawn your ranged champion on the left side. Sometimes I like to spawn Baron or Mary on the their defender's lane, so when they spawn their defender I can get off a double attack on their champion, or force them to spawn behind the blocker (which is a mistake, allows me to push up my ranged champion to attack their ship freely). To counter, If they spawn Bug as the ranged champion, bring out Martel as a defender (so he can attack for 2, and on his second turn threaten to kill with 3 damage). If they spawn Mary as ranged champ, I like to counterpick with Crank or Aurora. Just know that taking a hit on your tank is better than taking a hit on your ship, and since your tank has more HP the ranged unit cannot simply exchange hit-for-hit.
The last option would be the double bruiser strategy, Harle/Corp, Harle/Aurora, Luna/Corporal. These combinations have a high damage potential, and can often overwhelm the 1 defender in the 1v2 scenario, even sometimes backing him away while they take control of the center. If instead of backing away, one of the bruisers draws out the defender, the other bruiser can just move twice and be beside the ship to threaten 4-6 damage next turn. The counter to this setup would be having Martel/Crank as defender, and deploying Aurora to swing to your right side to even out the odds to 2v2.

GATE TO LOST ANGELS



Map Flow / Strategy:

Depending on the starting deployment, this map either plays out very damage-heavy at the start or very passively. If the enemy chooses to deploy his champions all forward, you have the option to challenge the center and deploy yours champs completely forward, or lay back and play the waiting game (walking on and off caether/saether tiles).
It is very important to control your left side, as the enemy can bring a bruiser (Harle,Corporal,Aurora) to move onto saether tile, and then straight walk up to your ship. I find the firetile on your side an impediment to yourself, as it prevents you from attacking the enemy if they are in that corner, but I also find that you are more often threatened into getting pushed into your own firetile than pushing enemy offenders into it. It is important to place bodies as obstacles to easy pathing to your ship. Also keep mindful that if you play the waiting game too long, the enemy champions can reach very powerful ultras (Martel, Harle, Bug).

The main strategy is to control the center by means of ranged champions (Bug, Aurora) but also mounting an attack on the flanks while defending against the enemy flank attacks. The enemy will have a hard time just walking straight through the center to attack, so they commonly move towards the sides: Enemy right-side flank attacks include Mary sitting between caether and saether tile and attacking your ship, enemy left-side flank attacks include bruisers walking onto saether tile and then right up to your ship. Keep in mind, its perfectly viable to switch flank attacks to the opposite side, but I think Mary has a better flank attack on her respective firetile side.
Because the map is very compartmentalized with champions of the same team sticking on the same side, zone effect shells are very effective (Scorching Zone,Charge Zone, Dead Zone).

Picks/Counterpicks:

Example Team: Aurora, Crank, Martel, Bug, Harle

As first turn, place Aurora behind a caether tile or Bug behind the blocker. In response, deploy Aurora behind the other caether tile, or a ranged unit (Bug/Mary) in range of Aurora. You also have the option of more aggressively playing Aurora right in front of the enemy Aurora and placing Bug right behind your Aurora (also in range of enemy Aurora)...they can also do the same setup (bug behind their aurora). If their Aurora double attacks, you can either double attack back and hope your Bug crits to kill their Aurora (and hope their Bug doesnt crit to kill yours), or attack once with Aurora, retreat, then attack twice with Bug, and then move Corporal or Harle in for the kill.
On the right side, you want to spawn a more mobile champion (Corporal, Harle), as to threaten the double move action towards their ship. On the left side, ensure your defender will be able to prevent the same double move if they spawn their own Harle or Corporal. Crank is also a very good champion on the right side, as he prevents enemy from walking back and forth from saether to caether tile back to saether tile because he can just walk up and knock them off the map.
You may also choose to setup a left-side flank attack, with Mary. I suggest using Crank or Corporal as her babysitter, trying to fend off enemies while she does chip damage to enemy ship.

Here are all the champions, a short description of their strengths and which champions give them a hard time (hard counters/soft counters). You will notice that champions will often be countered by themselves (Bug kills Bugs!), since they have the same attack pattern and range.

Aurora: Versatile, mobile champ. Easily the best in 1v1 encounters, outranges all melee champs and outdamages/outlasts ranged ones.
Hard countered by: Aurora
Soft countered by: Martel, Bug

Crank: The best versus 1-range melee, can double-attack while pushing away with super on the second attack, then forcing the enemy melee to move+attack.
Hard countered by: Aurora, Crank
Soft counters by: Bug, Baron, Corporal, Butcher

Martel: The highest hp champion, can take hit-for-hit with anyone and survive. Can tank ranged damage and kill squishy ranged units. Best against 5-hp units.
Hard countered by: Crank
Soft countered by: Aurora, Martel, Baron, Corporal

Bug: The most well-rounded ranged champion, does not require line of sight and is the best at kiting slower melee champions. A champion killer, but decent at ship killing too.
Hard countered by: Martel, Crank, Harle
Soft countered by: Aurora, Bug, Mary, Corporal

Mary: The highest range in the game, one of the best as a ship killer, but good at taking potshots at enemy champs at range.
Hard countered by: Aurora, Martel, Crank, Butcher
Soft countered by: Mary, Bug, Harle

Baron: Great versus slow melee champions, although easily side-stepped. The best at crowd control and map control, sacrificing damage and survival for it.
Hard countered by: Mary, Aurora, Martel, Butcher, Harle
Soft countered by: Baron, Corporal, Crank, Bug

Harle: The most damaging (consistently) champion, he threatens leaping double attacks (super+basic). And Ultra suicides himself for no self ship damage, while also killing an enemy champ.
Hard countered by: Martel, Harle, Crank
Soft countered by: Aurora, Bug, Mary

Corporal: A hybrid between Harle and Crank, can threaten high damage but also very often used for his knockback super ability. Very versatile in how he accomplishes kills.
Hard countered by: Aurora, Corporal
Soft countered by: Martel, Harle, Butcher

Butcher: Always a persistent threat on maps with death tiles. Great versus knockback champions, often pulling them back into range after being knocked away.
Hard countered by: Martel
Soft countered by: Aurora, Crank

Luna: A very mobile champion, great on a lucky day, average when the RNG gods spite you. Acts as a shipkiller, but can also pick off low-hp champs with teleport.
Hard countered by: Martel, Crank, Harle, Aurora
Soft countered by: Corporal, Bug, Baron, Mary