skillsaw's blockbusters obviously improved on vanguard in a lot of ways but i think what makes it still stand out is that it's less... refined? like in a good way. like, vanguard is much more slaughter-y compared to his later work, and it's less hesitant to overwhelm the player. and as someone who likes slaughter-y stuff it has a specific appeal that, say, ancient aliens doesn't despite the latter being my favorite skillsaw wad and megawad in general. it gets bonus points for being a great entry point into those kinds of maps. the progression from forgotten village to free parking to superstructure felt really natural to me as someone who didn't understand slaughter at all. hell i didn't beat go 2 it or valiant map 31 until i beat vanguard despite beating plutonia and valiant beforehand