MOUNT WHITNEY

Map Flow / Strategy:

Picks/Counterpicks:

(2 saether tiles, 2 caether tiles, 1 health tile)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.Example team: Crank, Aurora, Harle, Mary, CorporalAs 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.