5 map poule is easy and perfect for tournaments, best of 3 is simpler and best of 5, well, you play everything. ctf needs better maps though.

this is *just my opinion* on what the best 5 map poule would be for each gametype.

duel:
aerowalk - oldschool map, tried and tested. everyone likes it.
blood run - slower paced, very balanced map, oldschool, tried and tested.
furious heights - a new map, lots of vertical fighting (sort of a more balanced dm6). everyone likes it pretty much.
toxicity - sort of a new map, apparently it was in q3? i dunno but its fast and quite similar to aerowalk. great for aggressive players.
hektik - new map, seemed unbalanced but its become part of the map poule now imo.

(personally i think ztn>dm13, one of them has to go)

tdm:
deep inside - oldschool +back map, good for teaching noobs how important positioning is, and quad area is exciting
dreadful place - new map, ra is the best area, but can be retaken with good mh/ya play, nice balanced map
purgatory - new map, great for pickups, part of every tdm map poule
hidden fortress - aggressive map, really nice changeup from the other two +back maps dm14 and osp5
grim dungeons - oldschool +back ;) great for positioning, double PU is an interesting dynamic too

ctf:
courtyard - nice now that its been changed, was very defensive before
ironworks - very defensive map because of the ra positions, but teams play aggressively on it to win games etc, its new for ql but very well accepted by most players
japanese castles - oldschool map, some ppl whine about the spawns but its very aggressive and interesting, only map in the poule with double PU
troubled waters - everyone loves this map in europe, maybe not so much in the us, but its been one of the best maps, once you get past the rail in mid and find the skills you need to play the map
shining forces - very defensive, but ra in mid, so its kinda balanced. personally i think its the most balanced map, but ppl hate the rail in base so i dunno :) better than siberia at least (imo)

(i think siberia is very bunkerish and overdefensive, only matters if you time the RA and medkits and win quad, kinda boring. stonekeep is interesting but prolly too big and it slows down the game a lot)

well i guess thats the most useful post i made, even though its full of bias and bullshit. so discuss or troll away :)