Gamers for Giving 2026

Splatoon fans coming together to bring the joy of gaming to those in need

On Sunday, April 5, 2026, Dapple Productions and Inkling Performance Labs (IPL) partnered with Gamers Outreach to bring the Gamers for Giving 2026 tournament to the competitive community. The Splatoon 3 tournament aimed to raise money to help provide families in hospitals with video games.

With Neato and Kyon commentating for IPL and SPF_Dark and Chaedr on the Dapple side, the two streams gave the audience options to choose from, as both streams showed different matches until the Loser’s Semifinals, where Pat and Scep took over.

The results of the first four rounds are below:

Round 1: We Deleted Goowapa for Charity vs. Good Squiddy (2-0) [IPL stream] Round 1: GDM vs. Last Minute Heist (0-2) [Dapple stream]

Round 2: 👻 vs. Sailor Moon Lovers (2-0) [IPL stream] Round 2: Unknown? vs. [I] Eclipse (2-1) [Dapple stream]

Round 3: Ascension vs. Zipcat (3-2) [IPL stream] Round 3: G.I.G vs. BlankZ (2-3) [Dapple stream]

Winner’s Semifinals: nm vs. Ascension (3-1) [IPL stream] Winner’s Semifinals: bread vs. BlankZ (3-0) [Dapple stream]

Winner’s Finals: nm vs. bread (3-2)

Starting with the Winner’s Finals, the dual streams converged into one IPL stream. The winner of the IPL stream, nm, would face bread, the winner of the Dapple stream. Get ready to see these two teams against one another, as they would bring plenty of mileage to the table!

Winner’s Finals opened with Splat Zones at MakoMart. Bread held the zone all the way up to 25 before nm flipped it in their favor. Nm wiped out bread multiple times in the game, but even all of that was just barely enough for them to eke out a win in overtime, after holding the zone through their penalty to take the lead, for a final score of 93-92.

Bread counterpicked to Splat Zones at Um’ami Ruins—nm took the lead from bread before the first minute was up, but bread quickly reclaimed the zone and their lead. Before the game clock was halfway through, a delayed wipeout on nm let bread take the knockout victory.

Bread, having just taken down all members of nm, stays on the zone as the ticks count down to their knockout.

Done with Splat Zones, the game transitioned to Tower Control at Inkblot Art Academy. Bread continued their dominating streak, not letting nm have the lead for very long, and sailed through their third checkpoint. The game did go into overtime, but ended with a wipeout on nm and another victory for bread, 88-39.

Rainmaker at Humpback Pump Track was next, and both teams took turns clearing their first checkpoint. Bread set the lead at 17; nm responded by getting to 33. In the final minute of the game, nm wiped out bread and took the Rainmaker all the way to 4, just shy of the knockout. The final score was 96-83 in favor of nm, and now the set was tied 2-2.

Game five went to Splat Zones again, at Robo ROM-en. The lead swapped a couple of times in the first minute, but by the end of it, it was nm extending their lead. Bread did their best to keep the penalty points piling on nm, but were barely able to stop nm at 3 in the last minute. Ultimately, nm earned their knockout, and seed #2 would send seed #1 to the Loser’s Bracket.

Seed #2, team nm, composed of Jasmine, Obito (umiha), SnipeZ! (MESMERIZER), and Mehdi.

Loser’s Semifinals: BlankZ vs. Ascension (2-1)

In the Loser’s Semifinals, BlankZ and Ascension met for a Bo3 set to determine who went to the Loser’s Finals to face bread. Between the prior set ending and this one starting, the donation pool surpassed its first goal of $500!

Game 1, Splat Zones at Robo ROM-en, went to BlankZ, 98-87 after overtime. Game 2, Splat Zones at Um’ami Ruins, went to Ascension, winning in a knockout. Game 3, Tower Control at Hagglefish Market, went to BlankZ, 76-61.

Loser’s Finals: bread vs. BlankZ (3-0)

BlankZ had earned their rematch against bread—in Winner’s Semifinals, bread 3-0’d BlankZ, and bread wanted to keep it that way to get back to nm as soon as they could.

The first game was fairly predictable considering the map and mode was Barnacle & Dime Splat Zones. Too often, games here end in a knockout, and that’s exactly what happened: bread won the game with over three minutes left on the game clock.

BlankZ counterpicked to Rainmaker at Undertow Spillway, where they had previously fought bread, and came close to winning but fell short by just 4 points. This game would be far different, and not just because both teams opted to take the right-side route instead of the left. After several wipeouts on BlankZ, bread took the win, 97-40.

Game three was Rainmaker again, at Humpback Pump Track. Bread already cleared the first checkpoint 20 seconds in. BlankZ, down two players and the others occupied in mid, had to scramble to regroup after bread snuck the Rainmaker to 4. With less than 30 seconds remaining, BlankZ made a huge push through Triple Inkstrikes… but was stopped at 5, and wiped out. Bread took the win 96-95, and the set 3-0.

While bread keeps BlankZ busy in mid, Soulja runs the Rainmaker uncontested and almost gets the knockout.

Grand Finals: nm vs. bread (1-3)

And bread returns to take on nm for the second time! Even though it’s Grand Finals, this wouldn’t be the end of the tournament if bread took the win, instead forcing a bracket reset before the winner was determined.

Splat Zones at Mahi-Mahi Resort was another speedy knockout from bread, not giving nm the zone at all. The best nm could do was neutralize the zone; at the end, they were wiped out as the game ended one minute and 32 seconds in.

Back at Humpback Pump Track for Rainmaker, we started to see a recurring pattern of bread falling behind after nm uses an Ink Vac to protect the objective (in this case, the Rainmaker carrier). Right as the clock reached 2:00, this tactic led nm to their own knockout win, tying the set 1-1.

nm uses three specials—Ultra Stamp, Big Bubbler, and Ink Vac—to safely escort Mehdi the Rainmaker carrier to take the lead, and eventually, the knockout.

Game three was Tower Control at Inkblot Art Academy. While both teams cleared their first checkpoints in the first minute and a half, it wasn’t until the last 30 seconds that anybody got through the second—belonging to bread. After overtime, nm remained 40 points behind bread, for a 35-75 loss.

The set ended with another game of Splat Zones, at Robo ROM-en, which nm knocked out on the last time these two were there. Plenty of close saves this game, with bread barely saving their lead, 63-64, then nm taking the lead by one point just frames before bread recapped the zone. The game ended in a knockout, but this time, the win went to bread.

And to the Grand Finals Reset we go!

Grand Finals Reset: nm vs. bread (1-3)

The set began with Splat Zones, like every other set, but at Hagglefish Market this time. The story starts to repeat itself: bread won the game, leaving nm with a bitter wipeout as the match closed. Though this time, no knockouts, just a 92-63 score.

Game two went to Humpback Pump Track again, and again nm outplayed bread by keeping the Rainmaker safe from bread’s Triple Inkstrikes with an Ink Vac, taking the lead 20-26. Nm wiped out bread as a bonus, and the game ended after overtime with nm still in the lead, 80-74.

Fearlessly charging right through Triple Inkstrikes, with an Ink Vac protecting their back, Mehdi takes the lead.

And for the third time, these teams met for Tower Control at Inkblot Art Academy for game three! Nm tried a defensive approach, bringing a double Big Bubbler comp in addition to a Snipewriter 5H. It got them their checkpoint first, but bread’s momentum snowballed after their first checkpoint, putting them ahead. Even down 3 players in overtime, bread managed to sneak onto the tower to win, 45-42.

Clam Blitz finally makes its first appearance, as the final sendoff for Gamers for Giving 2026! Bread, over a 30-second push, brought their score from 100 to 30. Nm’s Ink Vac and Big Bubbler only protected them long enough to get to 48. Both teams scored again, but weren’t able to get more points due to their hefty penalties.

Overtime went in nm’s favor, with an Ink Vac online and a Power Clam approaching the basket. Both teams were down one player. As the timer ticked down, bread’s Splash-o-matic popped out of the ink and splatted the clam holder, and by then, the clock ran out. Bread won the game 70-52, and after 13 games with nm, walked out of the tournament with the gold (and a special Sendou.ink badge)!

Fist bumps well-earned for bread: y0shell, phoenix (Jirachi), Soulja, and ecstacy.

Coming out of the tournament, one thing is certain: the people like Rainmaker at Humpback Pump Track! Appearing four times on the merged IPL stream, beating Splat Zones at Robo ROM-en and Tower Control at Inkblot Art Academy, which appeared three times each.

As the stream came to a close, the final donation total was $765.00 USD, over $250 more than the original donation goal of $500, and surpassing the second donation goal of $750.00!

Original Posting Date: April 9, 2026 at Splatoon Stronghold.

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