Let's talk about Elysium

[Lytical]

Like Tharsis, Elysium has couple synergy paths with it's milestone(MS) and Awards(AW). The map also appears to be favor terraforming(TR) over engine(EG), but if you are patient EG can often overtake the game in the later stage; because if you really look at it, the ocean rebate is ok since unlike Tharsis, it overlays and edged out from the top, which forbid you to take advantage of the ocean walking from the north edge, so in that sense even though the oceans are featured more prominent visually on the map with it's impressive formation, in reality it's much weaker for TR players here comparing to Tharsis.

Major rebates(MR) like x2titanium, x3cards and x3plants are on the ground instead of ocean like Tharsis, so good EG earlies like Restricted Arena and Natural Reserves or even bad cards like commercial district and Lava Tube became game changers.

3MS, 2AW favors EG vs. 2MS, 3AW favors TR

Specialist, Generalist and Tycoon transition nicely into Celebrity, or much riskier Industrialist. Depending on the income gap and Jovian count, Benefactor may not be safe for TR, and even estate and desert are not easily funded comparing ecoline's simple landlord fund on Tharsis. Ecologist and Legend are only TR favorable on paper that EG can simply drop Pets and Microbe Tagged cards to counter.

I think Elysium favors engine a bit, too many traps for TR players to step into, and very natural for EG players. With the income gap, worse ocean walking, and relatively favorable MS/AW fight. I often finds EG over take even some of the most powerful TR setups (insects, nitrogen rich asteroid, viral enhancer with high heat production) in the late game here on Elysium.

What are your thoughts on this map? Favorite cards, city location, strategy, game replays?

[Corvus Mortis]

Easily the most poorly designed map. Three card spot is swingy and in too good a location. Awards center too much around board play, which synergizes too strongly with center control. You're right that it doesn't favor rush, but it also does not favor traditional engine. Instead, it massively favors a strong ground game, which can typically power you into the late game and crowd out all of the awards.

[Kulikk]

My best performing and second favorite map. Quite straight forward to play for strong players and very mistake prone for not so strong ones.

[Dipoloulos]

I’m not claiming this with certainty, and the data may say otherwise. But if you told me that Player A outperformed Player B in plant production, heat production, and TR, while Player B outperformed Player A in cards drawn, steel production, titanium production, MC production, and card points, I would expect Player A to have the highest chance of beating Player B on Elysium, followed by Tharsis, then Vastitas, and finally Hellas.

[landus]

Atrocious for 4p. Decent and enjoyable for 2p despite its obvious flaws. The map looks like it wasn’t designed with the prelude expansion in mind.

Quite straightforward to play for strong players and very mistake prone for not so strong ones.

I like this remark a lot. Wholeheartedly agree.

[Lytical]

Easily the most poorly designed map. Three card spot is swingy and in too good a location. Awards center too much around board play, which synergizes too strongly with center control. You're right that it doesn't favor rush, but it also does not favor traditional engine. Instead, it massively favors a strong ground game, which can typically power you into the late game and crowd out all of the awards.

The ground game is very important here, since it affects benefactor, estate, desert and industrial with all the steels rebate on the board. I don't think the map is poorly designed, but misunderstood. I remember we talked about how Hellas is the heavy engine map in the discord, and many share that sentiment; I am saying considering you can walk around the lake or fire walking in the polar region in Hellas; Elysium is actually the true heavy engine map, since it has the worst ocean walk, and can easily be choked off from the coast. If insects, NRA, viral, deimo and high heat prod couldn't secure a TR rush victory on Elysium then EG must be heavily favored here. Even if your opponent has a double digit plant prod on Elysium, you can simply hold heat and fund celebrity to counter it, but getting two MS for the EG player is really important since TR with high plant prod will easily dominate the AW side.

My best performing and second favorite map. Quite straight forward to play for strong players and very mistake prone for not so strong ones.

What's your favorite straight forward approach here? Dominate the middle? Go for Engine(EG)? This is definitely not my best performing map, I am way more dominant on Hellas. What are some of the rookie mistakes? I think funding estate way too early is the most common mistakes I see.

[Kulikk]

Easily the most poorly designed map. Three card spot is swingy and in too good a location. Awards center too much around board play, which synergizes too strongly with center control. You're right that it doesn't favor rush, but it also does not favor traditional engine. Instead, it massively favors a strong ground game, which can typically power you into the late game and crowd out all of the awards.

The ground game is very important here, since it affects benefactor, estate, desert and industrial with all the steels rebate on the board. I don't think the map is poorly designed, but misunderstood. I remember we talked about how Hellas is the heavy engine map in the discord, and many share that sentiment; I am saying considering you can walk around the lake or fire walking in the polar region in Hellas; Elysium is actually the true heavy engine map, since it has the worst ocean walk, and can easily be choked off from the coast. If insects, NRA, viral, deimo and high heat prod couldn't secure a TR rush victory on Elysium then EG must be heavily favored here. Even if your opponent has a double digit plant prod on Elysium, you can simply hold heat and fund celebrity to counter it, but getting two MS for the EG player is really important since TR with high plant prod will easily dominate the AW side.

My best performing and second favorite map. Quite straight forward to play for strong players and very mistake prone for not so strong ones.

What's your favorite straight forward approach here? Dominate the middle? Go for Engine(EG)? This is definitely not my best performing map, I am way more dominant on Hellas. What are some of the rookie mistakes? I think funding estate way too early is the most common mistakes I see.

Funding industrialist or desert settler is the biggest trap ever, they are so easily flippable and expensive to defend. People also go for 3 cards too often in spots where it is more beneficial to take center for rebates.

[Lytical]

This map is growing on me, I was thinking about rebalancing it by redistributing the 3 card and plants spots, but that would lessen the dynamics, and if the bio ms push to 5 tags it will change the game too much.

I really love the fight between desert and estate, I have been surprised before from a tharsis city spammer in the desert to counter my high plant prod ground game. It worked like a charm.

Finally, even if I am behind in ms fight, with the right EG play Elysium allow to get the early cash back far more profitably if there is no heat support. Could preludes like huge asteroid be a bait here? Even with the generalist support, since EG is so favored?

How would you rebalance Elysium, does the map needs a rebalance?