Splatoon 3 North American League Event #10 (Regular Season Week 8)

by YELLOW
splatoon-3-na-league-event-10-regular-8

Article originally posted at: https://www.splatoonstronghold.com/news/splatoon-3-north-american-league-event-10-regular-season-week-8

Splatoon 3 North American League Event #10 (Regular Season Week 8)

This week is the “Now or Never!” for teams as the final stream for the 2025 Splatoon 3 North American League is at hand. The eight teams with the highest season standing, calculated by the five best weeks of play in the ten-week League, will be eligible for the Playoffs, taking place in December. Who made it in?

The League Show Episode 10

This week’s Splatoon 3 North American League Show was also the last, as Jordan confirmed that there would not be one for the Playoffs. Jordan and Zach wasted no time getting into the highlights from last week, then diving into the season standings. In the top spots were FTWin, fofofo, Milky Way, and Moonlight, all at least 35 points ahead of the rest of the competition.

Jordan, Zach, Nine, and Mellana, the original hosts of the first League Show episode, who have been along with us the entire journey, came together to share speculation on which teams to watch out for, who they think will win, and who will take the final spots in the Playoffs’ Top 8.

That was followed up by some non-Splatoon action, with all four hosts playing Mario Kart World and participating in a Knockout Tour, which Mellana took home the crown for. Zach hosted a final segment of Shiny Tips, covering last week’s Grand Finals game five, Clam Blitz at Museum d’Alfonsino, between FTWin and Milky Way. The episode concluded with a reminder of the last Sunday Scrim and the dates for the Playoffs, and an expression of gratitude for the hosts, players, fans, and community members who made the Splatoon 3 North American League the wonderful event that it was!

Top 8 Bracket

nal_r8_ladder

The set of casters to close out the final Top 8 action of the League included Zach, Kbot, and Rissa, and CzarDB was on the spectator camera. This week’s stream was quite short, at less than three and a half hours, likely due to how many 3-0 sets we had! The teams on stream this week were:

  1. Gourmet Race
  2. Milky Way
  3. BEt
  4. Carmel
  5. Duck Motif
  6. healthy diet food groups
  7. fofofo
  8. Sunset

Despite this being the last event, we still saw a Top 8 newcomer in Carmel, who put up quite the fight in the Ladder round, finding victory over Milky Way to make their way into the fourth seed this week.

Winner’s Quarterfinals: BEt vs. healthy diet food groups (3-2)

The Winner’s Quarterfinals kicked off with BEt vs. healthy diet food groups. If healthy diet food groups won this set, the points they earned would be enough to guarantee themselves the 8th spot in the Playoffs. If they floundered, they had competition in Sunset, who also had an opportunity–albeit a very steep one–to take that 8th spot for themselves.

Rainmaker at Inkblot Art Academy started the show and healthy diet food groups wasn’t waiting for closed doors to open. They dunked the Rainmaker into the first checkpoint 40 seconds in! BEt used an Ink Vac to get the checkpoint; the explosion popped the shield quickly and they took a narrow lead. Healthy diet food groups was back in the lead one minute later, and the game’s final 30 seconds saw both teams throwing ink at the Rainmaker shield. The game went to healthy diet food groups, 67-39. Splat Zones at Crableg Capital saw over a minute of the score sitting at 63-66 (in favor of BEt) as teams traded penalty points, neither making forward progress. Despite the close middle of the match, BEt would get points ticking away and end up taking the win in a knockout, with little less than a minute remaining.

Clam Blitz at Museum d’Alfonsino: a low-points game where both teams scored just once. Healthy diet food groups scored in the first minute, down to 71. Four minutes passed where both teams kept one another at bay; BEt opened the basket with less than 30 seconds to go. BEt tied the score, but were wiped out, so their score was pushed back one point behind healthy diet food groups, for a one-point loss 28-29. Turf War at Hagglefish Market saw BEt unleash all of their specials at once to keep healthy diet food groups away–however, the barrage wasn’t enough to even put healthy diet food groups into the Danger! position. BEt, instead, was the one in Danger! as the clock passed the one minute mark. Healthy diet food groups saw that marker last, just two seconds before the match ended, foreshadowing their loss, 40.5% - 56.1%.

Time for game five, Tower Control at MakoMart. BEt’s key to success was their Crab Tank, which was clearing every checkpoint for them with its high HP safety net. Healthy diet food groups had the lead in their hands for most of the game, but things went downhill for them as BEt grew desperate for the set point. Checkpoints melted away for BEt, and like game two, they took home the knockout win with a little less than one minute remaining.

Winner’s Semifinals: Gourmet Race vs. Duck Motif (3-0)

The next set saw Gourmet Race against Duck Motif, both who went 3-0 in the previous round. On the other side of the bracket was Milky Way vs. BEt, who both went 3-2 in the previous round. In the Loser’s Top 8, the matches were Carmel vs. Sunset, and healthy diet food groups vs. fofofo.

Game one went to Tower Control at Inkblot Art Academy. Duck Motif was on a roll from the get-go, taking their first two checkpoints in about one minute. As another minute passed, Gourmet Race cleared their first checkpoint by dodging some specials; they wiped out Duck Motif, clearing the path for another two checkpoints to be passed. As the game neared its end, Duck Motif got wiped out twice, and for a brief period, the only player left standing among both teams was Gourmet Race’s Shiny. Gourmet Race took the first win, 90-78 after overtime.

Museum d’Alfonsino was filled with energy as teams geared up for Rainmaker. Teams were frequently down two players or more, and at times, it was just a couple of players between both left on the field to hold down the base. Leads traded back and forth, teams saw wipeout after wipeout. All the action culminated in a charged overtime, where Duck Motif was closing in on Gourmet Race’s lead, using an Ink Vac and Kraken Royale to protect the Rainmaker carrier. Gourmet Race threw out Triple Inkstrikes; to no avail, it seemed, until leaf appeared out of the cover to take out the Rainmaker and end overtime, protecting Gourmet Race’s win, 72-69.

Game three was Turf War at Um’ami Ruins. Redshell1 completed their trifecta of Octobrushes, having brought out one of each per game–Nouveau, Cometz, and the vanilla Octobrush. Unlike the last Turf War game, teams weren’t afraid to run to mid and pick fights with one another. The first team to see Danger! overhead was Gourmet Race, in the last 45 seconds. Both teams were down two players in the final 20 seconds, and in the final few it was Duck Motif down all but one. The final outcome of the game: a new total ink coverage record for the NA League, at 97.3%, from a 51.0% - 46.3% score, with the victory and set shutout going to Gourmet Race!

Winner’s Finals: Gourmet Race vs. Milky Way (0-3)

After a long break, Winner’s Finals saw Gourmet Race vs. Milky Way. In the Loser’s bracket, the two sets were BEt vs. Sunset and Duck Motif vs. fofofo. Carmel and healthy diet food groups were out of the tournament.

The first game went to Tower Control at Hagglefish Market, which didn’t start on a good foot for Milky Way. Just 20 seconds in, and Gourmet Race was getting points and had wiped out Milky Way. Running off of that, Gourmet Race got the tower to 34, and later got their second checkpoint before Milky Way got one. Despite Gourmet Race’s strong start, once Milky Way took their first checkpoint by clearing the opposition from the way with specials, they rode the tower unimpeded through the final checkpoint for an early knockout.

The next game was Splat Zones at Barnacle & Dime. Another impressive start for Gourmet Race, having Milky Way down three players and the zone in their control after 20 seconds. They had the zone for a bit, but not enough to prevent Milky Way from getting the lead before the first minute was up. From there, the game was mostly in Milky Way’s control, leading to Gourmet Race losing another game in a knockout.

The set point was determined with Clam Blitz at MakoMart, which was a different story than the previous two games. It was Milky Way starting the action, getting their score down to 40 in the first minute and a half. Gourmet Race had the chance to earn points twice in the latter half of the game, using Triple Inkstrikes to keep Milky Way distracted away from the basket to sneak a Power Clam in. The last 30 seconds plus overtime saw Gourmet Race wiped out twice, and ended with them sent to the Loser’s bracket after a match score of 30-73.

Loser’s Semifinals: BEt vs. fofofo (0-3)

BEt and fofofo, having gone 3-0 over Sunset and Duck Motif respectively in the Loser’s Quarterfinals, were about to square off in the Semifinals. The winner would advance to Finals and have to go through Gourmet Race if they wanted to get to Grand Finals.

Splat Zones at Barnacle & Dime was back for another knockout, as is its reputation. BEt took the zone first and got some points, but fofofo was quick to claim it for themselves and have the lead going into the latter half of the first minute. BEt threw everything they had at fofofo–at one point, this included Killer Wail 5.1, Triple Inkstrikes, and a Trizooka all at once–but were unable to retake the zone off of it. Responding to BEt’s onslaught of specials, fofofo retaliated with Tenta Missiles and an Ultra Stamp, which wiped out BEt, and shortly after, the knockout after two minutes.

Rainmaker at Crableg Capital was next, and the Rainmaker shield became a notorious opponent against both teams, with its pop used multiple times to splat opponents. BEt took the first points in the game, but were not able to get their first checkpoint from it. Halfway through the game, both teams had their first checkpoint, with fofofo still in the lead. Teams traded wipeouts: first fofofo, then BEt, and fofofo again. The end result was another fofofo win, 71-38.

Tower Control at Hagglefish Market was BEt’s last chance against fofofo. Fofofo had the first points of the game this time, and moving fast, they were halfway through the second checkpoint in their opening push. Despite having to retreat, they were back to contesting the second checkpoint without delay. BEt was set up in the last minute and a half to overtake fofofo; they were approaching the second checkpoint into overtime, with a Crab Tank on the tower. An Ultra Stamp from fofofo knocked the Crab Tank off the tower, and a bomb finished off BEt in a wipeout, sealing them at fourth place after the 66-59 game.

Loser’s Finals: Gourmet Race vs. fofofo (0-3)

Gourmet Race vs. fofofo in Loser’s Finals, competing for the redemption shot against Milky Way, who had sent both teams to the Loser’s bracket. Both teams have been impressive so far, winning every set 3-0 outside of the one that sent them to Loser’s bracket. But only one can win 3-0 this time!

Game one went to Tower Control at MakoMart. Gourmet Race got an early wipeout over the opposition, which let them get through their first checkpoint before the first minute ended. Fofofo followed, getting their first checkpoint after two minutes in. They divided Gourmet Race’s attention with specials–Gourmet Race adapted well to datkid 444’s Zipcasters, but a threat is a diverted attention span that cost Gourmet Race their lead. Fofofo was wiped out in the last 20 seconds of the game, but the setback was not enough to stop them from holding the lead, and the game’s score was 71-60.

Game two was Rainmaker at Museum d’Alfonsino. Fofofo took Gourmet Race down two players and with the numbers advantage, they took their first checkpoint 30 seconds into the game. Gourmet Race tried twice for their checkpoint; on the second attempt they were able to not just get the check, but run the Rainmaker all the way to just one point shy of the lead. Fofofo wiped out Gourmet Race and rushed the Rainmaker out of their spawn; Czar’s spec cam was able to get a wonderful shot of datkid 444’s Zipcaster stretching across the map right to a plaza post, which featured a drawing of a squid in Zipcaster form. Rounding out the match, fofofo won again, 94-64.

Splat Zones at Barnacle & Dime was back for the set point, starting off with fofofo playing with a knockout mentality as they locked Gourmet Race in their spawn and wiped them out. Gourmet Race was able to break out with Triple Inkstrikes neutralizing the zone, pulling fofofo away from the lockout to fight for the zone, which ended in Gourmet Race’s hands, stopping fofofo at 4 ticks remaining. It was then Gourmet Race’s turn with the zone, holding it all the way until 5 ticks remaining. The game closed with teams fighting through their penalty points, with a final score of 96-95, with fofofo going to Grand Finals.

Grand Finals: Milky Way vs. fofofo (3-1)

The Grand Finals has arrived, for the last chance to become the victor of a Top 8 stream in the NA League! Milky Way vs. fofofo, a repeat of their Winner’s Quarterfinals set, which went to a game 5.

The set started on Tower Control at MakoMart; by the end of the first minute, both teams had moved the tower, but no more than 10 ticks. It took halfway into the game for a team to pass through their first checkpoint, which was Milky Way. The teams continued to stalemate in mid, until less than a minute remained, when fofofo cleared their checkpoint just a hair before a Booyah Bomb overtook the tower. The game went into overtime, where again a Booyah Bomb forced fofofo off of the tower before they could take the lead, resulting in a close loss, 39-44.

Next was Splat Zones at Urchin Underpass. Again, by the first minute in, both teams had points to their name, but no clear advantage either way. Near the end of the two minute mark, however, fofofo wiped out Milky Way right as they took the lead, which then saw them hold it until 22 ticks remaining before Milky Way wrested it back. It was then on fofofo to do the same, but by the time they reclaimed the zone, Milky Way was already ahead of their score. Another close game which saw overtime, but ultimately resulted in Milky Way holding their lead, 90-84.

Game three, Clam Blitz at Um’ami Ruins, was fofofo’s time to shine, and with an opening push that lasted over 40 seconds and took their score from 100 to 41, they were set up superbly. After wiping out Milky Way, fofofo scored yet again, just enough to get through their penalty. Milky Way did score in this game, albeit just once, with only one Power Clam. Fofofo scored for a third and final time, which gave them a knockout victory with a little less than 30 seconds remaining.

Game four was Rainmaker at Crableg Capital, seeing no Ink Vacs as teams continued playing with their best. Milky Way had the Rainmaker moved in the game’s first minute, but the first checkpoint to be cleared was by fofofo; this took them until just over two minutes remained on the clock. One minute later, Milky Way finally got their first checkpoint, after having the grates defended by two players, including a Crab Tank. The defense held up long enough for Milky Way to sneak into the lead. Fofofo was not able to pop the Rainmaker shield during overtime to attempt a final push, leaving the final score for them 55-60.

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Playoff Picture

So, after the dust settled, who will we be seeing in the Splatoon 3 North American League Playoffs? Before Event #10 began, the first seven spots were already guaranteed to qualifying teams, with the only mystery being who made which placement. The true wild card was the team who took spot #8, as a strong showing from a handful of teams meant the spot could have gone to any of them. The roster we can expect to see in the Playoffs in a few weeks, not organized by highest points earned, includes:

  • FTWin
  • fofofo
  • Milky Way
  • Moonlight
  • Duck Motif
  • BEt
  • Gourmet Race
  • healthy diet food groups

The Splatoon 3 North American League Playoffs will be held across Saturday, December 13 and Sunday, December 14, 2025, beginning at 12 PM Pacific Time on both days, with the first eight sets played on Day 1, and the final stretch on Day 2. The format will be a best of five, double-elimination tournament, and will be streamed live on the official Nintendo of America YouTube channel.

We’ll catch you there!

Original Posting Date: November 25, 2025

Written and formatted for publication by YELLOW.