Splatoon 3 North American League Event #7 (Regular Season Week 5)

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Splatoon 3 North American League Event #7 (Regular Season Week 5)

With one month left in the Splatoon 3 North American League, teams are now reaching the point where, if satisfied with their event results, can take a break. Only a team’s top five results will count toward their Playoffs eligibility, so if a team has played every Regular Season event so far, they don’t need to keep going. However, in the event of a tie, the team that has played more events is prioritized, so don’t rest on your laurels!

The League Show Episode 7

Jordan and Zach opened up the Splatoon 3 North American League Show’s seventh episode with a recap of the previous week’s highlights. They went over the current team standings which have Milky Way, Duck Motif, and Five in the top 3 spots.

Jordan hosted a gameplay segment, “Exploring Alterna”, where three community members (Falco, Kbot, Chara) competed to see who could complete select missions in Alterna, successfully and quickly. The segment showed off each players’ skills at dodging Amped Octostamps while collecting Power Eggs, Zipcaster ability and map maneuverability, and rail-shooting prowess.

Almost as a teaser of what was to come, the League Show returned to Riptide for an exclusive interview from Cyren with KyochaN (also known as [K]yo!) from FTWin. The interview would consist of questions such as “What got you into Splatoon?”, “What motivates you to keep playing?”, “Who would you consider to be your biggest success story [as a player you’ve trained]?”, and “What moment from a past Nintendo tournament stands out to you most?”, among others.

Zach would conclude the League Show with another Shiny Tips segment featuring game five from last week’s Grand Finals between FTWin and Milky Way, Turf War at Crableg Capital. The show ended with a reminder of future events still to come.

Top 8 Bracket

Event #7’s commentator cast included Zach, Popgun, and Nox, with CzarDB on the spectator camera. At the time of writing, the stream has nearly 24.5K views, with a relatively short 4-hour run time.

This week, three teams were new to the top cut! This week, the Top 8 teams were:

1. FTWin
2. Moonlight
3. fofofo
4. Gourmet Race
5. ABA Chan So Cute
6. Duck Motif
7. Waypoint
8. Sunset

Winner’s Quarterfinals: FTWin vs. Sunset (3-1)

The first set on stream would be FTWin vs. Sunset; Sunset was one of three teams who have not been seen on stream before, though viewers may recognize the players (Happy, ori_, roman, fishy). The other sets would be Gourmet Race vs. ABA Chan So Cute, Moonlight vs. Waypoint, and fofofo vs. Duck Motif.

Kicking off Event #7 was Tower Control at Hagglefish Market, a near-mirror match with both teams bringing a Splash-o-matic, Snipewriter 5H, and Slosher to the field. Neither team cleared a checkpoint until two minutes in, which would be FTWin, taking theirs to 34. In the last 45 seconds, Sunset got their first points of the game, but couldn’t drive the tower far enough, ending game one in a win for FTWin, 66-45. Game two went to Rainmaker at Urchin Underpass. During FTWin’s first full push, they were stopped on the pedestal as every player gathered to fight around the checkpoint. FTWin got a lead to 34, but no lead is safe–with one minute left, Sunset cleared their first checkpoint. That snowballed into the lead with ten seconds remaining, and the victory, 92-66.

Less than 15 seconds into Splat Zones at MakoMart, FTWin already had Sunset down three players. At 2:16, FTWin wiped out Sunset, and did it again just five seconds later as the earliest respawners took the stage and were bombarded. Sunset stopped FTWin at three points to knockout, delaying the inevitable as FTWin fought a bit longer to earn the knockout. Game four, Turf War at Um’ami Ruins, saw only FTWin adapt by including a REEF-LUX 450 MIL-K in their arsenal. At almost one minute into the game, Sunset was already seeing the Danger! sign flash for them as FTWin invaded their base, and the warning wouldn’t go away until the final minute. In the last 30 seconds, FTWin got a devastating triple on Sunset, which would lead to the win, 60.7% - 36.2%.

Winner’s Semifinals: Moonlight vs. fofofo (1-3)

Headed into the second round of the event, Moonlight vs. fofofo, FTWin would be going against Gourmet Race on the other side of the Winner’s Bracket. In the Loser’s Bracket, ABA Chan So Cute would face Sunset, and Duck Motif would face Waypoint.

Perhaps for the first time, game one was Turf War–at Museum d’Alfonsino. Both teams had a Splatana Wiper, Snipewriter 5H, and a variant of the REEF-LUX 450. For fofofo, an Inkbrush, and for Moonlight, a Forge Splattershot Pro, which paired with the MIL-K to spam Booyah Bombs. Having more players going into the final seconds of the game let fofofo secure the first set win, 64.3% - 33.1%. The next game was Tower Control at Crableg Capital. Fofofo took the tower quickly, but went down just as fast, enabling Moonlight to take the tower and ride it through the first checkpoint. At about three minutes on the clock, fofofo got their first checkpoint, but just couldn’t keep their momentum into overtime, where Moonlight came out as the victors, 85-58.

Splat Zones at Barnacle & Dime saw fofofo take the zone first, but Moonlight was the one to hold it all the way to 5 ticks, where fofofo had to use three specials to reclaim it before the match ended early. Both teams inched as close as possible to knocking out; ultimately one was able to claim the knockout, and it was fofofo. Game four was Clam Blitz at Um’ami Ruins; already 20 seconds in, fofofo scored, earning a great lead to 41. Over a minute later, Moonlight followed with their own mega push, taking the lead and driving their scoreboard to 9 points before needing to back up. Moonlight would go down three players as fofofo broke into their base with an Ultra Stamp; they would take the lead and the knockout, for the Winner’s Semifinals under their belt in a 3-1 set.

Winner’s Finals: FTWin vs. fofofo (3-2)

Going into the Winner’s Finals, the Loser’s Bracket would see Moonlight vs. ABA Chan So Cute, and Gourmet Race vs. Duck Motif. Sunset and Waypoint would be exiting from the Top 8 after losing their sets, 1-3 and 0-3, respectively.

Once more, we get surprised with a game one Turf War, at Crableg Capital this time. With the vanilla REEF-LUX 450 showing up, all three REEF-LUX 450 variants appeared in the stream! Going into the final minute, FTWin tried to hold onto all of their specials to lock out fofofo, but this worked against them as some were held for over 20 seconds, with players being splatted before being able to use them. FTWin had Danger! flash in the UI, and soon would be down two players. In the last few seconds, fofofo went down three players after having been consistently down two for an extended time. Judd’s final say was in favor of FTWin, 53.1% - 43.8%.

Fofofo had just come from a knockout on Splat Zones at Barnacle & Dime, and they looked to repeat that against FTWin in game two. They took the zone first; by the end of the first minute, FTWin had the zone and the lead, but soon after, fofofo reclaimed possession. FTWin snatched the zone from fofofo as they reached 13 points left, but it wouldn’t be long before they had the zone back. With one minute and 43 seconds remaining, specials thrown to no avail, FTWin lost in a knockout, with fofofo now 2-for-2 for knockouts on Splat Zones Barnacle & Dime in the stream.

For the first time in the NA League, the game went to Clam Blitz at MakoMart. But looking at the weapons, it looked more like Urchin Underpass. No Chargers, Dapple Dualies in play, Mini (and Zink Mini) Splatling dominating. As we’ve come to expect from fofofo, they scored early; their first push was to 65 before one minute passed. Around the midpoint, FTWin made an incredible 33-second push, bringing their score to 57, taking the lead. Fofofo swung back, taking FTWin down three players, they scored just enough to take the lead. In the final heartbeats of overtime FTWin threw a Power Clam, which would have assured their victory, but Lil Judd’s flag still waved for fofofo, as FTWin’s Power Clam was just frames too late. The final score was 56-53, for fofofo.

Back to the norm, Tower Control at Museum d’Alfonsino, the early game would be fofofo zooming through checkpoints as FTWin cycled being down two players. Before the first minute was up, fofofo had their second checkpoint; it took FTWin two minutes to get their first points. With Crab Tank on the tower and Triple Inkstrikes out, FTWin took the lead halfway into the game. Not far behind, fofofo used a Big Bubbler to ensure that they overcame FTWin’s score. Evolving into an all-out brawl, FTWin got wiped out, fofofo went down three; only DATMENACE! was alive, riding the tower through the third checkpoint. FTWin locked in for the last leg of the game: without any specials, they surpassed fofofo’s score of 12, and even returned a knockout victory back.

Game five was Rainmaker at Urchin Underpass, where surprisingly, no Ink Vacs were present, and on the side of FTWin was a Nautilus 47. But the true MVP of the game was the Ultra Stamp. Sam helped FTWin wipe out fofofo by getting a triple with an Ultra Stamp, which let them get their first checkpoint and the lead. Fofofo worked hard to out-score FTWin, but FTWin reclaimed their lead once again using the Ultra Stamp to clear a path through the grated wall. In the last few seconds of the game, fofofo had the Rainmaker and wasn’t far from outpacing FTWin, but two seconds from overtime, they would lose the Rainmaker to a thrown Ultra Stamp, securing FTWin’s five-game set win, 58-48.

Loser’s Semifinals: Moonlight vs. Duck Motif (3-2)

For the past few weeks, Moonlight’s bane has been Duck Motif, always going to a game five but falling short of victory. After both teams went 3-1 in the previous round, will Moonlight surpass their bracket demon, or will Duck Motif continue to repeat the pattern to advance to Loser’s Finals against fofofo?

Back-to-back Rainmaker games on stream, this time at Museum a’Alfonsino. In less than a minute, Duck Motif was stopped shy of breaking through their first checkpoint. Moonlight would instead be the first to clear a checkpoint, after about a minute and a half, after taking down three on Duck Motif–two which were from a Rainmaker double. Continuing that momentum, Shadow would get another double with the Rainmaker; further still, Moonlight got the Rainmaker to just 7 points before their push ended. Duck Motif wouldn’t be able to catch up, especially after being wiped out in the last minute, and the game ended in an overtime victory for Moonlight, 93-54.

Tower Control at MakoMart continued the theme of Charger mirrors from the last match (double Splatterscopes) with two E-liter 4Ks. Duck Motif passed their checkpoint first after both teams met in mid and the resulting fight left Moonlight down three players and Duck Motif only down one. Shortly after, Moonlight returned to wipe out Duck Motif, take their first checkpoint, and the lead. A minute and a half later, Duck Motif reclaimed their lead by getting to–but not through–the second checkpoint, and they would stay in the lead until the end of the game, winning 61-46.

Clam Blitz at Um’ami Ruins was a high-scoring game with high action as the game opened up to Moonlight wiping out Duck Motif in the first 40 seconds. They would not score off of this opportunity, but when they wiped out Duck Motif again one minute later, they would get the chance to put the first points on the scoreboard. Their push to 47 was quickly overshot when Duck Motif kicked off a 34-second push powered by Triple Inkstrikes and a Trizooka by scoring three Power Clams at once. Duck Motif’s push ended with their score going from 100 to 4. In overtime, Moonlight would put up a tremendous fight to keep the basket open and timer running, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Duck Motif, who won the game 96-86.

Turf War at Urchin Underpass saw a peculiar weapon choice from Duck Motif to not just bring out a Snipewriter on a map notorious for being unfavorable to Chargers, but it was the Snipewriter 5B, with Splash Wall and Ink Storm. It would not prove effective, as Moonlight was driving the match just one minute in, after Omega got a double over Duck Motif and led Duck Motif to seeing the Danger! sign flash in their UI. The Danger! sign would not leave the screen for Duck Motif until the game was over; Moonlight’s hold was too strong, leading to their win 63.9% - 30.4%.

Game five–the moment of truth, at Splat Zones Barnacle & Dime, which was currently 2/2 for knockouts in this stream. Moonlight would turn that into a 3-for-3 after securing a knockout after one minute and 22 seconds. They did not let Duck Motif get any points, finally breaking their NA League curse and winning a set against Duck Motif, letting them advance to Loser’s Finals against fofofo, who had also been giving them immense trouble in the League.

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

The battle of reruns was ahead for fofofo; in Loser’s Finals they had to fight Moonlight again after going 3-1 against them in Winner’s Semifinals, and should they win, they would re-face FTWin in Grand Finals as the runback after Winner’s Finals.

Another set began with Rainmaker, on Urchin Underpass, which would be unforgiving to Moonlight from the get-go as fofofo wiped out Moonlight before 30 seconds had passed. This led to fofofo getting their first checkpoint, snowballing into a lead at 38. Fofofo’s Zipcaster was their most powerful distraction tool, keeping Moonlight busy while fofofo managed to get the Rainmaker to just 1 point remaining! Moonlight protected themselves from getting knocked out, but both teams kept trading players back and forth, denying easy forward progress. The game ended in a fofofo win, 99-51.

Splat Zones at Barnacle & Dime–you know what’s coming: the three-for-three knockout victory record, turned into a four-for-four as fofofo knocked out Moonlight with three minutes and 36 seconds to go. Moonlight did have a chance to get some points to their name, having taken the zone in the first eight seconds of the game, but fofofo moved too fast and had a defense too strong for Moonlight to overcome, leading to fofofo’s second win of the set in short order.

Moonlight won Tower Control at Crableg Capital earlier in the stream against fofofo, but fofofo entered the match with a new fighter: the Custom E-liter 4K, the kit with Squid Beakon and Kraken Royale. The notion that an E-liter 4K isn’t a front-line aggressor or a special spammer was thrown out of the window in this match, as it felt like every time Moonlight turned their head, Harshi’s Kraken Royale was in their face, in their base, causing a commotion. The ever-present Kraken Royale, paired with Zipcaster, denied Moonlight the chance to push the tower past five points, and would lead to fofofo getting another knockout victory, and the set shut-out, 3-0.

Grand Finals: FTWin vs. fofofo (3-1)

The winner of Event #7’s Grand Finals between FTWin and fofofo was guaranteed to be a double winner, as FTWin won the Regular Season Week 2 Top 8 and fofofo won the following week’s stream. Although we may have had new faces this week, the winner would not be! Every map/mode in this set would follow that theme, being repeats of matches in their Winner’s Finals set.

Game one between these teams would once more be Turf War at Urchin Underpass. Compared to other Turf War games on display, this one felt personal with the unusually high number of splats between teams. Turf War is normally slow to begin, but just 30 seconds in, FTWin was already down three players, and shortly after seeing Danger! at the top of their screen. As the game continued through its halfway point, FTWin would be seeing that Danger! sign more often than not as they struggled to find a footing against fofofo. In the final seconds, both teams were down two players; the end result was a victory for fofofo, 52.7% - 43.7%.

Game two went to Clam Blitz at MakoMart, returning the weapon comps that looked like something for Urchin Underpass, with no Snipewriter 5Hs, and Dapple Dualies in play. FTWin scored first after a skirmish in mid left them with a numbers advantage. The game had one recurring theme: teams making pushes of just one Power Clam at a time. FTWin’s perseverance in scoring, over and over again, saw them racking up points fast, compared to fofofo, who had only scored once by the middle of the game. Fofofo looked to snag an overtime victory from FTWin as they set up a Big Bubbler under the basket and started tossing clams while FTWin was down three players, but they would regroup to shut down fofofo’s camp, ending overtime with their win, 61-52.

It was time for Splat Zones at Barnacle & Dime again, for viewers to sit on the edge of their seats in anticipation of a potential fifth KO in a row on the map/mode! It looked like the early win would go to fofofo, as they held onto the lead for nearly a minute and a half, finally being stopped at 13 by FTWin’s Triple Inkstrikes. It was now FTWin’s time to turn the tide, taking the lead with two minutes on the clock, but fofofo locked in to stop FTWin at 4 points remaining. Fofofo lost the zone right as they burned through their penalty points; just 20 seconds left, and FTWin was the one out of penalty points, and although they cut it very close, we still got the 5-for-5 knockout victory on Splat Zones at Barnacle & Dime!

The final game of the Grand Finals, Rainmaker at Urchin Underpass. Again, it would be the Ultra Stamp making the game for FTWin as its non-ignorable presence gave FTWin the distraction they needed to take the first checkpoint and lead from fofofo. Close to the two-minute mark, fofofo still gave FTWin a fight, taking their first checkpoint and lead. However, once FTWin’s Ultra Stamp came back out, it was another lead change after it got a double, leading to a wipeout right by the grates. This gave FTWin the opportunity to go for the knockout, which they were able to secure at the same time as a second wipeout, ending the game with just under a minute remaining, and taking the set 3-1, and FTWin’s second Top 8 stream victory!

There were repeats aplenty in this week’s Splatoon 3 North American League Top 8 stream, but the action never gets old. Even this far into the event, new teams are still showing up, but only those who have played at minimum five events will qualify for the Playoffs in December. Who will go the distance and make it that far? We can’t say for certain yet!

Original Posting Date: November 4, 2025

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