From my experience playing this map, it has almost always either hard-rolled to Last or hard-held at first. I haven't seen a proper defense on 2nd in months, and that is really frustrating to me when the entire point of the map is having 3 Control Points to defend. Attacking in this map is typically a frustrating experience for me, as no matter what I try to do on either of the relevant points it always feels like a huge slog to push. A lot of BLU's routes put them at an awful height disadvantage to where the good setup spots are, and it makes pushing honestly just a frustrating experience overall. And when it's not height disadvantage, it's a spammy hallway or doorway that Hardwood obsessively makes use of. Defending is a lot more fun than attacking, mainly because defenders often get the chance to either push into BLU's area (A) or they create a near impenetrable fortress (Last and A) that makes it really unfun to try and attack. Detailing wise, I think Hardwood shines brightly. It's smart with where it places subtle little details to make the map feel just real enough for me to be like "Wow, this feels so real..." (Shocking, I know.) I'm not personally a fan of the dusk lighting, but it does make it visually distinct from the other "Forest" themed maps like Domain, Landfall, and Undergrove, which I must give it credit for in that it knows its niche. I used to really like Hardwood. I really and truly did. But the more I have played and tested this map, especially this year, the more disillusioned I have been with the map itself, and it's really disappointing that the map went from a decent 7/10 to a meh 4/10.
