#oceanink

16. Aftermath

With Oceanink Series done, the level of activity among Malaysian Splatoon 2 players decreased. Competitive gaming could be tiring, almost everyone took a break by diving into other games or became more caught up with events in reality. A casual Salmon Run competition was recently held to slowly coax them back, with a promise/willingness for nightly PBs. Perhaps Malaysia Splatoon 2 future isn’t so dim after all.

In terms of t!slots members, Furi went back to Hyrule that is still in need of slaying. Bibu embraced her farmer life. Sot still showed up for an occasional league or Salmon Run with XGBers. arlang came back from Taiwan, but she’s still caught up with school and work. Leaf swore off Splatoon 2, wanting to be officially retired as a competitive player. DBen comes and goes, it is said that he will only reappear upon request. I completed Moonlighter, started Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (and most likely will be saving Gaia in near future with a certain monkey-tail hero, after I’m done with Hyrule on 3DS), and also got more involved with work due to work’s peak period. Plans to celebrate Oceanink Series’ end and teammates hard work with t!slots will have to wait ‘til my work trips are done... 

Meanwhile, some unfortunate shake-ups in VerniySefaro led to the departure of Kent and BK, leaving VS to an uncertain future, but also to the return of Knife and Banana. KnB had always been Kent’s roots (and home), and thus begins his new journey to find reliable companions to form a Malaysia team that would stick together and grow. BK and Naj followed him. Knowing Tofu’s predicament, he extended his invitation to Furi and I, and also sought one more active player to be in his team.

Division 6 would later have its Discord channel. A casual tourney and meme party was hosted, as promised in the past, with Shidow recording and commentating the thing. There would also be DnD in near future, with character creations ongoing. It was amusing to see peeps getting addicted to Tatsumaki, and also Philip making good use of the t!cat command.

It is still uncertain what my Splatoon 2 future holds, but if there’s one goal I have in mind for now, it’s to finally achieve S rank in all modes so that I could better my skills onwards to X rank.

For now, though, I’ll surrender myself to work and (more) writing.

END

15. Cross-Division Playoffs

Cross-Division Playoffs is a form of mini tourney (double elimination) format, allowing the upper division and lower division to cross ink. In other groups, the bottom 3 of the higher division standings and the top 3 of the bottom division standings are meant to duke it out. As Div 6 is already the lowest, it was planned that all Div 6 teams will be facing the bottom 3 teams Div 5 standing.

Unfortunately, none of the Div 5 teams could make it, so Cross Division Playoffs became a mini Div 6 tourney instead. The matches were rather short, best out of 3 on a total of 5 matches. Best 2 out of 3 in loser bracket.

On that fateful day, Sot wasn’t able to make it. Furi and Bibu could, Leaf was made to play and arlang joined in as a sub.

a) vs Pier Pressure PiP attendee had Radar, icy, Ezkey and Potato. The lack of obito on the list was a comfort.

Turf War, Arowana Mall - I was able to utilised my Hydra well on that one, taking a bit control of the mid. Victory was quite solid as the slayer trio wiped out everyone in sight.

Tower Control, Sturgeon Shipyard - A (somewhat) smooth journey on the tower. I was also able to attempt in attacking from the left as a surprise attack. The match ended in a KO bonus iirc.

Clam Blitz, Humpback Pump Track - Had fun catching lots of people in the middle and left. Quite a solid and quick win.

Final score: t!slots 3 - 0 PiP

b) vs Verniy Sefaro VS had Kent (expected), BK (expected), Justme (kinda expected) and Riderman (oh, what a surprise!) battling today. I wasn’t too concern with Riderman; word has it that his procon is broken, adding to his lack of participation in Oceanink Series, he must be rusty. Justme, on the other hand, would be a nuisance to deal with, but he couldn’t be as bad as Naj...

Splat Zones, Manta Maria - We had a pretty strong start as we gained the zone in the beginning and was able to defend it. Subsequent recovery also went without the hitch as I took advantage of being the focus fire of opponents, allowing my teammates to recover the zones. When opponents decided to switch attention to objective, I would take them out from behind with my range. As long as I stood on middle, it was tough for them to recover and easy for my teammates to get back into field.

Turf War, Walleye Warehouse - The assistance of my teammates allowed me to gain control of the middle, making it difficult for them to gain turf. The last few seconds was a close call as they managed to pressure me off the mid, but it was a victory at our end.

Rainmaker, Starfish Mainstage - Our push was quite a strong one as Furi was able to go as far as she could with the RM. It was in this stage that I realized the importance of gaining control of the middle + turfing as a backliner. It was difficult for them to push back due to our strong control in the middle.

Our spirits was overall good in this one, as it felt like a good payback to our official match. No dcs from Bibu’s end, “No Naj No Game!” Furi often cheered, and no(t much) harassment received from the opponents that allowed me to do my job.

Final score: t!slots 3 - 0 VS

c) vs Inkpact

Clam Blitz, Arowana Mall - The feeling of playing in this CB is akin to our official match with Inkpact on Snapper Canal: like a whirlwind, they came and we all fall down... Rather quickly too. Also could feel at least 3 of them aiming at me whenever I appear. =_=‘

Rainmaker, The Reef felt like an exposure to our weakness: being scattered, individual fighters instead of fighting as a team. We were quite outplayed in this map.

I was unable to play the subsequent rounds, allowing arlang to sub in. t!slots took victory on Splat Zones - Snapper Canal (due to a dc in Inkpact’s side) and Tower Control - MakoMart (TC was really never Inkpact’s forte), but lost in Clam Blitz - Sturgeon Shipyard.

Makes me wonder if me not participating was a better choice, considering how most of them would aim for me. Had losing me confuse our opponents? >__>’

Final score: t!slots 2 - 3 Inkpact  

d) vs Kaiyo To quicken the process of Loser Bracket, matches were shortened to best 2 out of 3 matches, except for Loser Brackets Finals (which remains best 3 out of 5 matches). t!slots landed on Loser Bracket Finals, meaning we had no break at all!

I wasn’t there for the battle, but the battle seemed tough. It was evident that Kaiyo had became stronger, as they triumphed over VerniySefaro on their last match and went toe-to-toe with t!slots.

The match ended with a 3 - 2 in t!slots’ favour, but PipDragon received Furi’s respect. I looked forward to their growth (and lamented at the fact that I could never battle them because things always popped up during our scheduled battle).

e) vs Inkpact

Tower Control, Humpback Pump Track - This was the match I could feel mikkun’s improvement as a backliner, they moved in together with their teammates and supported them well. This was also the first time Inkpact won on a TC match over us.

Splat Zones, Musselforge Fitness - Another match that highlighted how scattered we were in terms of recovery. At least two opponents were camping at our base, making it difficult for us to reach objective. Doesn’t help that when we played like ranked mode. Victory was theirs.

Rainmaker, Ancho-V Games - A painful battle where we somehow managed to gain lead. I dc’d at the last minute, but they were able to defend the lead and took the match.

Clam Blitz, Moray Towers - By memory it was a good game. Inkpact gained good advantage, but we were able to flip the tables, only to get it flipped back by Inkpact again. Our final push failed, giving Inkpact the victory of this match and set.

Final score: t!slots 1 - 3 Inkpact

With that, t!slots took second in Cross Division Playoff that isn’t really a Cross Division, and Oceanink Series came to a close.

14. Deferred Week 4 Match - vs VerniySefaro

VerniySefaro is a fellow Malaysia team that contained most of the former KnB members. It is co-led by both Kent and Benji, both being veterans of Oceanink Series, with a huge roster of strong players: BK, Naj, Justme, Riderman, (the more casual cast:) Eddy, Koyu, and APLeu.

After much digging, it was confirmed that Kent, BK, APLeu and Naj would be playing against us. There was also a brief question on whether we should postpone this match in hopes to get players other than Naj against us, but we all agreed to get it done ASAP so that we could rest before the cross-division play-offs.

Kent and BK playing were expected; they are like peas in the pod after all, can’t have one without the other especially when it came to Oceanink Series. It is highly like that BK will take up his NZap, and Kent would play something long range, a Jet Squelcher or Heavy Splatling maybe. It is also possible that BK would be carrying a Jet Squelcher and Kent his usual trusty Dual Squel, but considering that Naj is in the party and recent videos did not see BK using his Jet Squel, said option would be quite unlikely.

APLeu, on the other hand, there were short video clips of her leaning towards more on support/shooter weapons that her usual Carbon Roller. Considering that there are two very proficient slayers in the front lines, I doubt she would return to her roller as well.

Naj was the player we did not want to fight the most; VS may have a lot of skilled player, but Naj felt like the cream of the crop. He has the wiles in battle, so it’s a pain to fight him... but worse of all, he’s favoured by the Gods/Powers-Up-There.

How so?

Case One: In Ink Your Heart Out (Malaysia’s first tourney), Harapan had connection issues but managed to pulled through towards the finals. When we fought them, Leaf’s connection acted up. They also had a lot of good luck with maps until the end, and I would like to think that it was my incense stick to the Buddha that partially combated his luck.

Case Two: In Ready Set Ink! (Malaysia’s second tourney) finals, they were able to conserve their energy because uncleSotong members kept disconnecting. I’d like to think they lost because of my incense stick to Buddha and also Kuniki’s vegetarian deal with Guan Yin ma.

Case Three: Mini Tourney (Malaysia’s third tourney) was a disconnect hell that eventually wore my teammates that we lost on that one. That tourney was also me forgetting to lit an incense stick, ugh.

Case Four: Kensa Tourney (Malaysia’s fourth tourney), despite the incense stick I lit, still ended up as a dc on my end, especially when we were on match point during which I was turning the tables. Mrgrgrgrgr...

Case Five: With him participating that night’s match, Calamar happened to be free to record, prompting a huge morale boost on VerniySefaro’s end (as most of them are huge fans of Calamar).

I have met Naj in person at mini tourney, and he seemed like a righteous person. In fact, he’s also in a righteous job as a police man, seems loving to his wife and is seemingly a pious person considering his religion. So yes, Powers-Up-There definitely favours a good man.    

So when Bibu had connection issues (Bibu never had connection issues!) and everyone (jokingly) blamed BK, I (secretly) blamed Naj.

Reflecting back on both Splat Zones, Goby Arena and Tower Control, Ancho-V Games, we both lost due to the gap of combat experience, formation and recovery. In fact, the latter map allowed Naj to spawn camp us. Frantic attempts on recovery made us jump into the battlefield one by one, only to be suffer in their readied ink. Aye, we lost.

Turf War, Skipper Pavilion seemed rather balanced due to its large map, but Bibu’s disconnect the second time forced us to continue the match with a lack of manpower. Needless to say, we lost.

Clam Blitz - Arowana Mall - The training with *cha team paid off. VS managed to broke our barrier once, but we managed to broke the barrier and took lead. There was a pretty long stalemate until Bibu dc’d at the last 30 seconds, prompting us to adopt a more defensive position and for our opponents to rush in. While we had the lead, the match entered into Overtime as opponents carried a power clam. Sot and Furi attempted to stop them but they were both freaked out (sot faced them on the narrow bridge), outnumbered (Furi tried stopping Kent and Naj on the front, got took down by BK at the back) and out-ranged (Inkbrush and Octobrush vs Dual Squelcher and Heavy Splatling), leading to their quick demise. Fortunately, narrow bridges are brilliant places for Hydra; I splatted the three attackers in quick succession and defended the lead, gaining our very first victory.

On Rainmaker - Shellendorf Institute, it was noted that the opponents carried weapons that are mid-range at best. They may have realized their mistake, especially when I was able to take control of the roof quite often (and regretted not taking being able to take clips of several nice rooftop splats). Fortunately for them, Bibu dc’d, and our request for sub allowed them to change weapons as per Oceanink rules.

Calling Leaf in is a double-edged sword. While it gave Furi the confidence that an old comrade and player on par of her skill was playing, Leafy was also out of practice and definitely out of sync with us. There were some lead struggles, but victory fell to VS in the end.

The short moment of battle before connection hiccup in the beginning of Splat Zones, New Albacore Hotel was enough to know that BK was out for my blood, hogging my usual perch spot on the left. I informed of others to clear the left pathway for me to perch. We took the zones quickly, and the left was oddly clear. The opponents carried no long range weapon, leading to a very easy control on the left entrance and the grate with my Hydra. The range allowed me to assist sot and Leaf, who are wreaking havoc in their base. Furi guarded the right with her splattershot pro, which outranged most of the weapon they carried. Naj attempted to baller through to the zone, however, the momentum of his leap across the water as a baller was affected by my Hydra volley... his descend into the water prompted a very satisfied chuckle from me. t!slots dominated this round.

Tower Control, Wahoo World led to a long tug of war. We had a good lead, with VS fought back led to an overtime (ooo deja vu). Furi was confident in stopping them as her special was ready, but we were definitely not ready for the onslaught of specials and harassment from Naj as he sharked at our base. All I could remember were a mess of ink storm, bubbles and stingray before VS took the lead overtime, winning the match.  

The overall result was a 5 - 2 in VS’ favour.

The mood was, for the first time, quite heavy after the loss (though a few attempts in light-heart jabs were made). Perhaps it was the frustration in the gap of skills and experience, or the fact that we could do better, that our tempo was messed up by frequent disconnects.

Bibu felt guilty as her connection issues led to a match’s loss, but none really blamed her for it. Heck, I could empathize with that guilt as my connection issues had cost team matches in the past. It could not be helped. Luck was definitely not on our favour this time, a fact that was only confirmed by Calamar’s presence.

A more capable captain would be able to give a rousing speech of life’s philosophy and how everyone had done well, and perhaps ended said night with a good note; I wasn’t that capable, for my mind only replayed to the many shots that I missed, the incapability of handling Naj and BK’s pressure, the inability to guide them better in match... All I could articulate was asking for others to rest early, before departing to bed.

On a brighter note, our matches were all wrapped up, so that’s a huge burden off our backs. Bibu immediately went back farming, Furi went back to save Hyrule and I started my life as a Moonlighter. After two months of committing to competitive battling, that’s the end to the Oceanink Series and all of us deserved a break!

...

Except, no, that wasn’t the end, because there was still Cross-Division Playoffs, dang.

13. Week 5 Match - vs Inkpact

Inkpact is led by Captain Philip, a good natured player who is seemingly hungry to learn all weapons. Video research showed that their team has quite a strong formation, and that refrain (RBP, Splattershot Pro main) and dreuser (Sploosh, Splash main) are the ones to watch out for. Philip as well. While the other members (Hansk, mikkun and  écrire) seemed fresher compared to the trio, their synergy made their weakness less obvious.

It is a known fact that Inkpact is the strongest among Division 6. In fact, some would say they should not belong to D6 at all, except they were, due to bad luck in seeding match-ups. So far, majority D6 teams that faced them ended with a very dominating 5 - 0/1 score on Inkpact’s favour, with the exception of VerniySefaro, who managed 3 victories before losing the set to Inkpact. Except, VerniySefaro managed this score without facing all of their strongest members.

Luck was not in our favour as Philip, refrain, dreuser and mikkun took to battle. Three of their strongest in battle, just how long can we last?

Tower Control, Camp Triggerfish - Both teams were still warming up, many carelessness and falling-into-water happened. We managed to take lead from Inkpact despite their rather strong beginning, even ending with a KO bonus. It was a huge morale boost for the team!

Clam Blitz, Snapper Canal - What little increase of our morale plummeted as Inkpact came upon us everywhere. Their coordination and zoning was superb on their map that victory was solidly theirs.

Rainmaker, The Reef - A very tough battle, with several lead tug-of-war. Inkpact had another solid lead, we were pretty close until I made the mistake of falling off an edge, which led to difficulty in recovering the RM and eventually Inkpact’s victory.

Turf War, Shellendorf Institute - If there was one thing I regretted, it was not using Hydra in this map. The lack of firepower allowed Inkpact to take a confident win in this one.

Splat Zones, MakoMart - Another painful battle. Our lead was taken over by Inkpact, and we had some trouble recovering. There was a huge tug of war, before the match ended in an overtime with Inkpact managing to secure their win by taking over our zone.

It was match point for Inkpact. Our team accepted that our opponent team was way stronger than us, but I told my teammates to at least win one more time so that we wouldn’t look too bad. Furi joked that we could for sure, as TC did not seem to be Inkpact’s forte.

Furi was right, for Tower Control, Goby Arena went to our bag. Our firm lead in the beginning made it hard for Inkpact to recover, and while last minute their push was pretty good, a single step onto the tower on our side ended the match.

This time, I jokingly said we should win the next one so that our score would match Sefaro’s.

As if the Powers-That-Be heard my prayers, refrain was subbed out and replaced by hansk for Clam Blitz, Inkblot Art Academy match. Their weapons chosen was no longer than mid-range, allowing me to apply pressure and assist in controlling the middle ground quite effectively. The frontliners also took to attacking their base rather effectively and strongly. We secured a win in this one.

refrain was subbed back after. Sot exclaimed that we should go Game 9, because that was how t!slots roll! I like that boy’s attitude, but I was also pessimistic at the thought as we were back to facing their strongest members again.

Nevertheless, Rainmaker, Piranha Pit would become my favourite match among the set. It was a painful battle, sure, as Inkpact was rather dominating throughout the match. We had a long stalemate before we managed to broke through their defence and took lead in the final minute only to be wiped out. This prompted Inkpact to push back, and they almost did by being just behind our lead by ONE point before my Hydra took the RM carrier down. With Furi, sot and Bibu wiping the last of them, we took the RM hostage and waited for the last few seconds to pass.

We did it, we reached Game 9!

Alas, we lost at Splat Zones, Starfish Mainstage. Tiredness from last battle? Lack of coordination and difficult in recovery for SZ? The fact that all their attackers are targeting me? Perhaps all of the above.

Regardless, a score of 5 - 4 against Inkpact was an achievement. It was a match that both sides were satisfied: Inkpact thrilled at having an awesome final match, and t!slots with a confidence boost that they could almost go toe-to-toe with D6′s strongest.

11. t!slots (+BK) CNY Gathering

Sometime during CNY week, BK asked if it was okay for CNY gathering to be at my house. I agreed under the consideration that BK was currently ill and any mall’s bacteria-infested air would not be good for him.

Unbeknownst to most, it was actually a rare occasion for friends to visit my house; most meet-ups were usually done outside, mostly to save the effort of preparation and cleaning up after. Friends who usually have free reins to my house are friends who have known me for many years (and those can be counted with a single hand).

However, CNY is fair game, as there are food and drinks ready to be consumed. Merrymaking is encouraged, so with parental permission (as the house belongs to them after all), a CNY visit from t!slots and BK were welcome.

After a meal at Boran, we swiftly returned to my house for card games (which was pretty much the planned main event).

We played Big 2, before I introduced them to the joys of Monopoly Deal. Hell and laughter broke loose on that one.

In this moment, we learned of Bibu’s true nature; card games apparently activated her sassiness and competitive nature, she would loudly denounce friendships in card games while plotting our demise. She won a couple of Big 2 rounds, signifying her mastery over the game.

Sot, too, had his quiet Overlord-like moments when he got good cards and was confident in his win. There was a tranquil peace when his plans foiled, with a promise of revenge.

Furi was fairly straightforward and bold in her card play. Her appearance was rather dashing that day that my mother mistaken her as a male at first glance.

BK kept the cheer up, he was very well-versed in Big 2 and managed to won a game in Monopoly Deal. Impressive!

During dinner, we would later learn that sot was actually my cousin’s neighbour (same block, same floor of an apartment! Just what are the chances!). Even the more embarrassing when sot mentioned he could hear my cousin’s loud music.

Time after dinner was mostly spent on reminiscing the past with BK while we told of the “good ol’ days” to sotsot.

It was an overall relaxing day with good company, but it was also quite a significant experience; I have not play Big 2 for many years, since CNY Ipoh visits stopped after my grandma’s passing. Nor have I played Monopoly Deal since my boyfriend’s visit last year. Just a simple sentence of card game craving and nostalgia brought them to my doorstep for CNY, their presence was enough to fill the peaceful air with something that is almost equivalent to rowdy family gatherings. The usual awkwardness and paranoia I felt whenever I met up with t!slots did not exist that day.

The closeness of t!slots’ main team may have prompted the following conversation with BK:

12. Blurred Lines

A conversation of Malaysia teams’ state led to BK deducing that t!slots would become Furi and my permanent team.

This led to my confusion as I had seen myself mostly as an acting captain who was temporary holding the team up because DBen couldn’t. Besides, DoTS wanted to retain their independence, and this was something I respected. It seemed that my intention to lead had been mistaken for taking over half of DoTS’ team...?

While the conversation mostly cleared up the reasons behind my actions, I could not help but ponder on conversation even after it ended.

... Have I... overstepped the boundaries?

It is true that I started to lead because there was no one to do so, and here I was, pouring everything into this team like how I had poured into Tofu during the old tourney days... Perhaps I just miss having a team to nurture and pamper? Perhaps I just want to feel the excitement of practicing and doing one’s best, just like during old tourney days? Or perhaps the uncertainty of my Splatoon 2′s future was why I gave my all?

Because Tofu was no longer the same; louhai made XGB, slap and Leaf are not committed to Splatoon 2, Kuniki joined and prioritized Nameless. Fishy would remain a casual and it’s highly unlikely to see her playing competitively. Only Furi and I remained, and there was the struggling of feelings in joining other teams as no other teams felt as right as Tofu, for Tofu is a team that is formed mostly by pretty close-knitted friends who knew each other beyond Splatoon 2, and to me, there is no place that could felt any “safer” as compared to their presence and combat skills in-game.

Furi and I once had a discussion on finding new members for Tofu before, but everything felt hopeless considering the dwindling interest in Splatoon 2 in Malaysia. With Furi’s new job and my change in job position, neither of us have the energy to manage or look out for new blood. With that, I cherish every competitive games we could play together, for this could very well be our last.

However, by working so hard in attempt to achieve something in Oceanink + dragging main team into a cycle of practice and outings... is this ruining DoTS as a team? Did sot and bibu minded me taking over? Perhaps arlang and DBen felt excluded from this? If I were a better communicator, perhaps I would have asked them or sought their permission beforehand... and yet, fueled by passion, I just swept in like a whirlwind.

Nevertheless, there was no time for regrets; the season was coming to an end, and our upcoming opponents would be tough. There were matches to be scheduled and scrims to be done. Just two more weeks...

After that conversation, I commissioned Kuniki to make t!slots art. Life is often filled with impermanence, but I want something “permanent” to remember this experience by.

9. Division 6 HaremCamaraderie

It was unsure how it started. The face-pinching of MT’s GameRaider? The fact that Div6 had several matches in a day that liven up the chat? My dating sim jest with Paddy, Pilot and GameRaider?

One thing’s for sure, Div6 became much more chatty after that day. So much that it was commented among streamers and admins. I even experimented on how much they’d paid attention to us by starting a discussion on streaming, and it led to Shidow (Div4 player & streamer), goi (Div1 player & streamer) and CalamarCat (Admin, Div2 player & streamer) joining us by sharing their experience and Streaming 101, further leading to an impromptu meme private battle with CalamarCat commentating.

Looking back, Div6 had always had the potential to be chatty, it just needed a catalyst.

Paddy of Kaiyo had already seemed eager to always start a conversation, greeting captains politely and sending love to everyone. His friendly nature may be how he formed good connection with various teams. Always eager to learn, he may have played a role in Kaiyo’s sudden growth spurt.

On the note of Kaiyo, I learned that Kaiyo and Div5′s Hikari used to be part of Odyssea, a team that appears in both season 1 and 2. Odyssea had also fought KnB in season 1 before, so it was a no wonder that their co-captain, PipDragon, seemed very familiar. Pippy would later share me an old battle video of Odyssea vs KnB she’d found on GDrive, a memory to reminisce~  

GameRaider of Midnight Turfers is pretty chatty as well, his presence brightened the room at times. His behavior and style is almost akin to Pit of Kid Icarus series. He is also apparently an Australian-born Japanese who is learning his language.

Pilot joined in time and again when he could, his humour is often dry and his participation is fairly straightforward. He often played the straight-faced role.

Inkpact started off with Philip joining in a little shyly, but his teammates seemed to be good sport who joined our conversations at rare times. We would later learn that their team mainly came from Indonesia, which made match-scheduling so much easier after.

Pier Pressure lived up to its name by not giving into the peer pressure of joining conversations, though icy joined in from time to time and remained our only connection to PiP.

BK represented VerniySefaro well, joining in conversations good naturedly along with sotsot, usually keeping conversations going or giving a positive insight.

Their conversations even inspired me to start on a Division 6 harem fic (which they’d surprisingly support and look forward to), something I would attempt to complete after finishing these memoirs.

If there’s one thing I learned from all these socializing and “PR-ing”, it was how I like to maintain good relations with other teams. Regardless of being opponents, I’d still like to get to know them as people and build up goodwill among them. UBW (my RO guild) may be dominating in WoE, but we were respected. Tofu had been loved among peers, thanks to louhai’s merrymaking. And now, t!slots, had built up goodwill from our politeness, patience and also giving other teams a thrilling good fight that inspire both sides.

It was a fairly good position to be.

Nevertheless, the lively camaraderie of Season 3′s Division 6 would be fond memories I’d cherish for days to come.

10. *cha, Twitter, Hydra Skills

*cha is a Div4 team made up of 4 main members Yuzu (team leader, recently learning how to flex), Kuki (Jet Squel user who uses Sting Ray scarily), Momo (awesome and scary flex) and Kou (roller frontliner). Their subs, Genmai and Yukou, used to be known as Maiki and hikk respectively from Malaysia team Team Avengers (IYHO) and LMoU (RSI).

Interacting with *cha team was pleasant and enjoyable, as they often provide handy feedback plus tips and tricks.

Yuzu especially, being our touch point, shared the importance of sub weapons, specials type for different modes and recovering from battles. She and Momo also shared with me a Japanese Hydra YouTuber who flanks like a frontliner.

On the note of Hydra tips, being a captain forced me out of my comfort zone and towards connecting with other players. It helped that I made a twitter account (@cerusplats, for those who are interested) for all my Splatoon 2 needs (though it was mainly to upload my Spla2n videos and clear them from my Switch). This led to an interesting Hydra discussion between Coco and Valty on how to play Hydra more flexibly.

That said, Kapitan from Sailor Veemos once participated as a guest to watch *cha vs t!slots, and he’d imparted an advice that would be ingrained in my mind, one that I still attempt to adhere to: to ensure my distance between teammates would still allow my teammates to be supported. This advice was especially significant, considering that my firepower often played an important role in t!slots (something that I had trouble accepting).

All in all, it was a good period of learning.

8. Deferred Week 2 Match - vs Midnight Turfers

Not even a day to rest in between, we were set to face Midnight Turfers on the next day!

Midnight Turfers is like an older/mature version of Pier Pressure; they started off as a pick-up team in season 2, and stayed together for season 3. It is said that fire-forged bonds from battles are the strongest; Midnight Turfers (MT) is perhaps one of the living proof.

The team of 8 (now 10) members is led by Pilot and GameRaider. Video research shows that Magey is the main threat, being an all-rounder X ranker, a match to our Furi. While GameRaider is also fairly strong, he is unavailable for our match due to Chinese New Year preparation and so there was less pressure for us. Other than that, it is known that Tak-tiks is their roller user. The other members remain unknown, I can only pray there’s no other secret obito or Magey-like players.

When the time came, it is observed that Pilot, Jupiter and Ezkey came online. Judging Jupiter and Ezkey’s levels, they seemed quite fresh, but then again levels may not be fair indicator. It was also clear that they were having a bad day as their 4th member went missing. Not that we’re in a perfect situation, considering that Furi was back in hometown and could not do call-outs, though she did participate on our vc.

Nevertheless, Captain Pilot adhered to the rules: there is a grace period of 10 minutes for teams to get all their members in, if the time has passed and members are still incomplete, it would either be a 3v4 or the match forfeits. MT would rather die trying than to forfeit the match.

Turf War, Walleye Warehouse - A quick gauge of skills on the first round was enough for us to know that the three would be no match for us four. I even started to squid dance half way to maintain fairness, and victory was narrowly won. Pilot informed us their 4th member arrived right after we started. To maintain fairness (and also out of pity), we allowed for a retry in said map on 4v4. Magey entered (to everyone’s dismay), I switched from Bloblobber to Hydra. We took the round again by having to maintain mid control, with me ensuring to splat Magey as priority.

Clam Blitz, Piranha Pit - We had a rather wonky start, and we did not perform well in this one. Perhaps MT could have won that one if Magey did not dc. Luck was at our side, reality was harsh. t!slots took the win in that one.

Rainmaker, New Albacore Hotel - That match was quite fun to play. If I recall correctly, it wasn’t even close as my Hydra was able to effectively shut them over the bridge. Everyone done really well in progressing and defending.

Somewhere along the line, Jupiter dc’d. Understanding the frustration and embarrassment that MT must be facing, we made light of the situation by making jokes and sending spiritual Booyah Bomb to Jupiter. My Booyah Bomb was so effective that it short-circuited my internet and Discord vc. It took a while but Jupiter came back.

Splat Zones, Ancho-V Games - It felt like Magey had caught on, for he spent most of his time aiming at me. A wipe made it hard for others to recover as everyone rushed into the zone one by one. MT secured a win in that one.

Tower Control, Sturgeon Shipyard - As if to maintain fairness between teams, Lady Luck took my connection away after 2 minutes and 30 seconds, making it too late for a rematch. MT easily took the win despite the lead we had.

Clam Blitz, Skipper Pavilion - The constant skirmishes in the middle left the opponent’s north side to be empty. Sot was able to break net a couple of times due to this, and we were able to defend the middle well.

After said match, Magey left as MT thought the match has ended when it was actually still at 4 - 2 to our favour. We had to wait for his return as he had entered into a ranked match. This was certainly a set fraught with lots of waiting, but it was also what made Div6 became rowdy as more jests were made while waiting.

Rainmaker, Moray Towers - One can see that Magey’s internet connection was deteriorating as he dc’d the first time and started to teleport on the second round. While we had the upper hand on the lead, MT was able to snatch the lead at the final minute, leading to a victory in their books.

Splat Zones, The Reef - Magey’s dc led GameRaid to substitute him; we played long enough for GR to sort out his stuff ‘til he was free to play. Boy was I glad that Magey was subbed out, that we did not have to face both GR and Magey the same time. The match was pretty equal until I took a more aggressive approach by perching on the left, taking out the charger and splatting unsuspecting opponents who rushed to the zones. t!slots won this match and subsequently the set.

The final score was 5 - 3 in t!slots’ favour.

The mind-exhausting match took us 2 hours to complete. Meaning to say, Furi spent more than 2 hours outside for better internet, and sot + bibu endured the afternoon heat in their rooms. Sot even mentioned he didn’t know what was doing halfway through the match due to the heat getting into him. I really appreciate my team’s patience and felt bad for not considering their state better, the experience made me strive to pay attention on my team’s condition more.

7. Week 3 - vs Pier Pressure

Pier Pressure (PiP) is a pick-up team-- a term that means said team are put together by solo registrants-- led by Radar. As such, their synchronization would need more work (but hey, don’t we all!). From video research, (S+ ranker) Potato seemed to be somewhat troublesome to deal with. Radar plays Jet Squelcher, its range is below Hydra. All in all, PiP and t!slots power may be fairly equal.

Except video research isn’t perfect, for it didn’t show us obito. Just our luck, because obito happened to be one of their toughest fighter.

Rainmaker at Starfish Mainstage was a bit of a mess. While we had a strong start, PiP managed to snatch the lead from us in the end.

We snatched a solid victory from Turf War at Port Mackerel after.

At that moment, Radar was constantly “gg”-ing at every match. Good lord, mate, was he trying to apply pressure on me?

Splat Zone in Wahoo World was a disaster, for it seemed very hard to recover after a wipe, resulting in a clear victory for PiP. 

However, we got back with a KO bonus ourselves on Tower Control at Inkblot Academy after a couple of tug-of-wars.

I had great confidence in our Clam Blitz at Humpback Pump Track due to many practice we had with said map. We actually did pretty well one in that one, except our match’s lead was stolen in an overtime.

The surprise lost led to a brief demotivated period, we lost Rainmaker at Mako Mart as well. 

The score was 4 - 2, favouring PiP. PiP was at match point.

Splat Zones at Musselforge Fitness was another long tug-of-war as the point leads kept swapping between teams. In this map, I took a slightly more aggressive approach by sometimes crossing the bridge or going to middle. We snatched victory on an overtime.

Tower Control at Skipper Pavilion was when obito bared his fangs, splatting a storm in our base. There were some lead-swapping, but we managed to maintain and barely defend said lead. 

With that, PiP and t!slots were both at match point.

Clam Blitz at Camp Triggerfish was an odd one. Our usual sneak strategy did not work, but Bibu got the ball in first. obito also got a ball into our net, but the lack of follow up allowed us to maintain advantage. There were many skirmishes and close calls, but t!slots ended up taking the overall match victory. 

PiP was not saddened by the loss. In fact, our match had apparently been an inspiration and an encouragement for them, as this was the first time they managed to make it that far into Game 9, so it felt like their practice paid off.

And thus, t!slots won their second match. The victory is, again, too close for comfort. Considering how fairly equal t!slots and PiP is, I had concerns on whether we could defeat Midnight Turfer at all...