What is a Sharkfight?

A Sharkfight is a 10 map series between two players where each player chooses 5 maps. In the event of 5-5, a tiebreaker game determines the winner. Tiebreaker map can be chosen by mutual agreement or given to in-game observers or stream viewers to select. All 10 games are played regardless of outcome and scores recorded to form a record of games. One purpose of the Sharkfight ladder has been to help in balancing teams with the knowledge gleaned from player matchups, in addition to it being fun competition for those who enjoy the battles!

Sharkfight maps must be 1 peon start, normal playstyle maps with no altered building or unit properties from the standard (ie. fast, free build, paintball, infinite hp units, cats n rats, tower warz, are not valid SF maps etc.). All start spots must be able access to gold and lumber (by chopping, hopping or by boat is okay if one begins with adequate provisions to make it there). Start spots are random, speed is EF. Player picking map can also optionally choose tileset and resources, but no one can insist on Fixed Order starts or any speed besides EF, though if BOTH players willingly consent to play Fixed or Fastest, it can be counted.

Examples of invalid maps: Chop Farms (since starts with farms rather than just 1 peon), Free Castles, Tower Warz, Cats n Rats, Cho’gall Paintball, BGH NO AIR, Mutton

Examples of valid maps: Shadowvine Forest, Wrath of the Storm, GSEPS, Chop No Farms, HSC, Dup, BigEars

Servers

You can use RU or Remastered servers for Sharkfights. If a disagreement over servers arises where one player wants to insist on one or the other, if either player insists on using RU, then RU should be used for features and familiarity (it’s the format we have been using for decades). If Remastered ever gets their act together, this could be updated in the future, but at this time, RU offers map downloading, communication, and historically “correct” balance (in addition to offering Blizzard and other modes). Players may offer to agree alternate Sharkfights, ie. Series 1 at RU, Series 2 at Remastered, but this is not required.

Entering the Sharkfight Ladder

First two players that complete a Sharkfight series, winner goes on top, loser on bottom. Say JohnBoy fights SuperPeon and SuperPeon wins with a score of 7-3, SuperPeon goes on top and JohnBoy beneath him. If SuperPeon then plays AnchorBaby and wins with a score of 6-4, AnchorBaby would go above JohnBoy and below SuperPeon since AnchorBaby’s score of 6-4 is better than JohnBoy’s score of 7-3. If an entering player has the same score, the new addition goes below the resident. If two players fight each other and neither of them is yet on the scoreboard, both will be entered at the bottom with the winner on top.

Climbing the ladder

When you are already on the ladder and you beat a player, you move directly above that player. You can give an official challenge to any player up to 3 spots above you. Someone more than 3 spots above you is allowed to accept your invitation to Sharkfight, but isn’t forced to.

Anti-Dodging Rule

You can challenge a player up to 3 spots above you on the ladder by issuing an official Sharkfight Challenge in the Discord Sharkfight channel. The challenged player then has 1 months from the time to complete a Sharkfight series to defend their position. If the challenged player has not defended their position or have shown attempts to schedule a time to play, the challenger will trade places with the other player, even if since the challenge was made, the challenged player fell lower than the challenger.

The purpose if this rule is to keep activity going and stop people from clogging the top spots and vanishing or not playing anymore to risk losing their spot. The challenger must show attempts to schedule a time to play over the course of the month (ie. Discord Sharkfight channel).

You can challenge any Warcraft 2 player that is not in the ladder yet to Sharkfight. From the date of the challenge, they have 1 month to complete the series, or they will be entered in the system with a score of 0-10 vs their challenger and identified as a dodger.

NOTE: The amount of time challengees have to complete a series was lowered from 2 months to 1 month beginning Sept. 1, 2025 following a community vote. This applies to new challenges made Sept. 1 or later. Challenges issued prior to this date fall under the old rule of 2 months.

Maps

Sharkfights have been going pretty smoothly with map selection over 6 years since 2018, until 2025 and chenjesu. 😄 I smilingly applaud chen’s innovation in being the first player to design maps specifically for the purpose of Sharkfighting specific players, however, it has brought about the realization some kind of standard or curb has to be added to prevent utter crap from being selected (sorry chen 😄).

This new rule is about to enter the testing phase and will be modified and updated as needed.

Option 1: Both you and your opponent ask each other for their list of 5 maps before you begin your battle. If Player 1 wants to eliminate something from Player 2’s pile, Player 2 also gets to eliminate the same number of maps from Player 1’s list. This option must be applied before you begin your Sharkfight series, since if 9 games are played and Player 2 picks Garbage Island, it’s too late for Player 2 to also eliminate from Player 1 list

Option 2: An official Sharkfight Map Approval Committee was formed in June 2025, consisting of fair-minded players who have a large map repertoire, including Lost~One, Seuss, and myself (Ember~). The 3 will vote in the event of a map being contested for legitimacy. Players would bring the map to the Sharkfight Map Approval Committee by communicating via Discord Sharkfight channel. We will aim to be liberal in allowing a vast assortment of types and styles of maps to be played, but if fairness is in question, a map can be ruled against as invalid for Sharkfight selection. Examples of reasons a map could be rejected include one player starting with 880000 gold on a massive island and another player starting on a tiny island with only a 117500 gold, or a map that contains 80 tiny gold mines and only 1 mine with a huge amount of gold that only the map author knows about. The goal is to have reasonably fair fights. Some imbalance is acceptable, as start spots are random, and the most popular map, classic GOW is known to be pretty imbalanced yet still well loved and considered a Warcraft 2 staple.

Cheating

If it becomes known that a player has been cheating, all of their wins will be stricken down but all of their losses will stay on the record. Stream sniping or using any kind of hacks or special assistance or watcher tips or anything dishonorable is strictly forbidden.

Exclusion Based on Persistent Anti-Social Behavior

Players who are badly behaved can be banned from the ladder. Ie. RU Van, GeorgeMcFly, LeeroyJenkins, and FalseWorld are autobanned from participation due to long-term intolerably poor conduct. Should a banned player wish to re-enter civilized society, they should produce an apology and improved conduct and could then be given another chance.

Ladder Abuse

If someone leaves the game in order to purposely give a free win to another player, that’s ladder abuse. Don’t do it. Those games will be disqualified.

Accounts

Players should have only one identity on Sharkfight Ladder. You can play on any aka but have one identity on the ladder under which all your games will be counted.