Splatoon 3 North American League Event #9 (Regular Season Week 7)

by YELLOW • November 18, 2025

Article originally posted at: https://www.splatoonstronghold.com/news/splatoon-3-north-american-league-event-9-regular-season-week-7

Splatoon 3 North American League Event #9 (Regular Season Week 7)

It’s the penultimate tournament for the Splatoon 3 North American League, before the roster for the December Playoffs are set! Many teams in the Playoff Picture do not have five season scores, meaning there’s still a high likelihood of standings shifting as the final two Top 8 streams play out.

The League Show Episode 9

In this short episode, Jordan and Mellana recapped last week’s action and showed us the current Playoff Picture. The teams in the lead are fofofo, FTWin, and Duck Motif. Gourmet Race and Triggerfish Zones Supremacy are in spots #7 and #8, with just a 5 point difference between the two.

Next, Nine, Chara, and Vicvillon showed EE the ins and outs of Rainmaker, covering topics such as how points are earned, the goal of the Rainmaker carrier, how to reset the Rainmaker in a pinch, and more.

The episode concluded with an episode of Shiny Tips that covered the Clam Blitz at Inkblot Art Academy game between FTWin and fofofo in last week’s Grand Finals set. The final week of action was relayed as a reminder to not miss the NA League’s final sendoff!

Top 8 Bracket

Mellana, Chaedr, and Magic headlined this week’s Top 8 stream, accompanied by Power operating the spectator camera. To make up for last week’s stream going game five-less, this week’s five-and-a-half-hour stream was full of game five action, courtesy of these teams:

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

No new teams this week, but it has been quite some time since Halcyon was in a Top 8 stream, having last appeared in Regular Season Week 3.

Winner’s Quarterfinals - Gourmet Race vs BEt (2-3)

The Winner’s Quarterfinals kicked off with a stranger-to-none set between Gourmet Race and BEt. As if to apologize for having no game 5 sets on stream last week, the team managed to pick the one set in the first round that went to a game 5–the rest were all 3-0!

The set began with Tower Control at Undertow Spillway. Moving fast, BEt was just shy of the third checkpoint by the end of minute one. Gourmet Race repelled them for a while, but BEt would knock out to win with 1:01 remaining thanks to a four-splat streak from Zero. Game two ended in a knockout as well; at Splat Zones Barnacle & Dime, BEt took Gourmet Race’s early lead 20 seconds in with a single Slosher swing. Gourmet Race reclaimed their lead in due time, but BEt took it again as the game neared its final two minutes. Gourmet Race pushed in with Triple Inkstrikes and a Big Bubbler, took the zone, and were able to take the return knockout win 12 seconds early!

Turf War at Inkblot Art Academy saw its usual shakeups prioritizing the REEF-LUX 450 variants. The first try ended early due to a disconnection, but once the second game three was underway, Gourmet Race was on their back foot, already seeing Danger! less than a minute in. The comeback was in their favor; in the final minute, by the time Power panned out the spectator cam, their fast inking saw them at a slight advantage over BEt. In the last ten seconds, BEt went down three players; Gourmet Race flooded into their base and secured another victory, 50.4% to 45.2%.

Rainmaker at Urchin Underpass changed up the weapons again, to favor short range and Ink Vacs. Gourmet Race’s second push took them through the first checkpoint to 55. BEt was not far behind: Gourmet Race down three let them snag the lead. Neither team got the Rainmaker past the grates, ending in a BEt victory, 54-47. Finally, game five, Clam Blitz at Museum d’Alfonsino. The first half saw teams take turns scoring and trading the lead. The tug-of-war was broken when Gourmet Race was unable to out-score BEt in the last minute and a half. Their only Power Clam expired with four seconds left; no Power Clam meant no overtime, and BEt winning game five 39-33.

Winner’s Semifinals: Moonlight vs. Milky Way (3-2)

Following the last set, BEt continued forward to face FTWin while the stream focused on Moonlight and Milky Way. In the Loser’s Bracket, it was Gourmet Race vs. healthy diet food groups and Duck Motif vs. Halcyon. Get ready for another game five set!

Game one opened up to Turf War at Urchin Underpass. We saw the usual adaptations, which included the inescapable Ultra Stamp; as the commentators discussed Milky Way’s Ultra Stamp prowess, Moonlight’s Omega tossed his and got a double. Nearing the last minute, Moonlight was down three players, which gave Milky Way the advantage as the spectator cam panned out for the overhead view. In the final ten seconds, however, it was Milky Way at the numbers disadvantage, giving Moonlight the chance to out-paint them, winning 51.5% to 44.5%.

Game two went to Hagglefish Market, for an as-close-as-it-can-get Splat Zones game. Milky Way had the first lead, defending it all the way to 13 ticks. Moonlight used their Big Bubblers to take the zone back and hold it, to just one point remaining! Milky Way needed to knock out if they wanted to win, which was exactly what happened, ending the game early. The next game was Clam Blitz at Barnacle & Dime, but looked more like Turf War; in the first 30 seconds, Moonlight was wiped out, and Milky Way scored to 56. Neither team scored after that, instead fighting over control of mid. Specials flew and clams were gathered and lost, up to overtime, where the timer ran out before Moonlight’s two Power Clams opened the basket, resulting in a 0-44 loss.

Game four was Rainmaker at Undertow Spillway. Milky Way moved the Rainmaker first, getting just one point before Moonlight wiped them out. Milky Way’s first checkpoint was denied three times by Basil’s sharp aim; they eventually got it after two minutes. Now it was on Moonlight to get a checkpoint, which they wouldn’t until overtime. A Big Bubbler blocking Milky Way’s Ink Vac saw Moonlight snatch the win, 51-50. Closing the set was Tower Control at Crableg Capital, where we got what we were waiting for: the E-liter 4K, brought out by Basil. Milky Way got their checkpoint first, but the end of the first minute saw them wiped out and Moonlight nearing the lead. Milky Way aimed for victory in overtime; they would be the team advancing to the Loser’s Bracket once the game closed, after Moonlight reclaimed the tower and a 61-51 win.

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

Winner’s Finals was between FTWin and Moonlight and on track for a third game five set in a row! In the Loser’s Bracket, Gourmet Race faced Milky Way, and BEt faced Halcyon. Duck Motif and healthy diet food groups were out of the tournament.

Splat Zones at Inkblot Art Academy started the set, seeing FTWin’s Shak (playing as Dr. Shak this week) on the Forge Splattershot Pro and Hexen with Dapple Dualies Nouveau. Moonlight took the game’s first handful of points, but halfway into the first minute, FTWin had the zone back and quickly turned it into the lead. FTWin held the zone to 10 remaining; Moonlight kept fighting to neutralize the zone and apply penalty points, and while they would get close to breaking even, overtime was not long enough for them to take the game, leading to a 96-73 victory for FTWin.

Rainmaker at Museum d’Alfonsino holds a new record for the NA League, for the fastest knockout victory! FTWin cleared their first checkpoint at 4:17. They pressed the forward button with the Rainmaker, wiped out Moonlight at 3:59, and proceeded to the knockout at 3:57, ending the game after one minute and three seconds. Just 20 seconds between the first checkpoint to the ending!

Turf War at Urchin Underpass was Moonlight’s revenge story; Danger! appeared for FTWin at the 1:30 mark, and while it blipped away a few times, it would be ever-present on their screens up until the end of the game. When Power panned the spec cam out, Moonlight was clearly in charge of the map, and the final result for them would be a 57.9% to 36.0% victory over FTWin.

Game four’s map/mode pick to Tower Control at Barnacle & Dime appeared for the first time on stream just last week, and was back again to see checkpoints between both teams cleared with the safety of specials. Moonlight took their two checkpoints in the first half of the game, and got as far as the third one, but the second half of the game was for FTWin to creep closer to the lead. They had the tower past the second checkpoint in overtime, but a Booyah Bomb denied their chance to continue. With another Moonlight win (74-59), the stream had its third game five!

On Clam Blitz at MakoMart, neither team brought a Charger despite having some of the best Charger players in the Western scene. The game was all FTWin’s, scoring modestly in the first minute, then majorly as they took their score to 17 after a huge 45-second push. FTWin scored a third time, but only added three points after having to contend with a hefty penalty stock. Although the game went into overtime, Moonlight would not be able to score; FTWin won 86-0 and once more found themselves on the road to Grand Finals.

Loser’s Semifinals: Milky Way vs. Halcyon (3-0)

The Loser’s Semifinals would be between Milky Way and Halcyon, who won their sets against Gourmet Race and BEt, respectively. The two would finally end the stream’s streak of game 5 sets and instead add to the large number of 3-0 shutouts.

Game one–Splat Zones at Um’ami Ruins–ended early due to a disconnection, but was back soon with cyclical action. Neither team had more than 5 points in the first minute because the zones were neutralized by the teams running in circles trying to keep them painted. Halcyon ended up taking the first significant lead, capitalizing on Milky Way down three. Milky Way put up enough of a fight to take the lead and sent the game into overtime, where once more the neutral zone fight persisted; the timer ran out and Halcyon could not retake the lead, ending the game closely 73-79.

Game two went to Tower Control at Inkblot Art Academy; Halcyon was so eager to take the fight to their opponent that while Milky Way was taking the first checkpoint, most of Halcyon was instead in Milky Way’s base. The cyclical action continued in this game, and saw team fights prioritizing 1v1s–remember that good players win 1v1s, but great players win 2v1s! The game returned to overtime with Halcyon on the tower, but a Booyah Bomb forced them off and kept them from continuing their push, adding another loss to their set record, 45-76.

Game three was Rainmaker at Undertow Spillway; not a good time for Halcyon as they were wiped out twice in the first minute and a half. It took Milky Way two attempts to get their first checkpoint, but after doing so, they were able to run the Rainmaker all the way to 17. Halcyon finally got their first checkpoint with 40 seconds left in the game, but they would not make it to overtime before the game ended with them exiting the tournament in 4th place after losing one last time, 52-83.

Loser’s Finals: Moonlight vs. Milky Way (2-3)

Back to having game 5 sets once more, Moonlight and Milky Way again went head-to-head on stream to determine who advanced to face FTWin, and who would be taking third place.

Splat Zones at Undertow Spillway is a map and mode notorious for being drawn out, as the two zones are so small that a stray bomb or sneeze can neutralize it. The solution to avoiding that is to lock out the opponent from the zones, which is what Moonlight did to Milky Way. Although Milky Way made good headway early in the game, once Moonlight took the zone from them, they were able to quickly gain the lead and hold the zone firmly in their possession until the knockout halfway into the match clock.

Turf War was next at Hagglefish Market; Moonlight once more dominated the early game, taking down Milky Way in pairs, and by the one-minute map pan, they looked to have the advantage as Milky Way was down two players. The end of the game saw Milky Way advance past the midpoint of the map; Moonlight’s early advantage left them just shy of a win, only 2% from a tie, 47.3% to 49.3%. The combined ink coverage reached 96.6%, which ties with the current highest total ink coverage record set by BEt and Duck Motif from Event #5!

Rainmaker at Inkblot Art Academy was reminiscent of the previous Rainmaker game, taking Milky Way several attempts to get their first checkpoint due to Moonlight’s Charger. It took them a minute and a half to succeed. Moonlight, meanwhile, took until the last minute and a half to get their first checkpoint, aided by specials. They made a powerful push off of that momentum, making a home in Milky Way’s base to drive the Rainmaker to 22, then to 16. The game went into overtime, but the Rainmaker in Milky Way’s hands was kept grounded in the corner. Moonlight took the victory, 84-56.

Clam Blitz has not been a favorable mode for Moonlight this week, and being at Museum d’Alfonsino did not change the outcome for them. Milky Way scored first, just one Power Clam, but it was their second push that took their score to 35 that did damage that couldn’t be recovered from. The game went into overtime, and still it was not enough for Moonlight to get any points, ending the game 0-65 and the set tied 2-2.

The set point of Loser’s Finals was down to Tower Control at Crableg Capital, the same game 5 combo from Winner’s Semifinals. After the first minute, both teams were still at their first checkpoint, unable to clear it, but Moonlight was just a few ticks ahead. The middle of the clock’s timer was when the tides turned, and Milky Way cleared their first checkpoint, and then passed the lead. Things snowballed for them and they were very quickly able to take their second and third checkpoints, and definitively ended the game early in a knockout.

Grand Finals: FTWin vs. Milky Way (2-3)

It’s FTWin’s fifth time back in Grand Finals in the NA League, and two of those appearances saw them against Milky Way. Their record is 1-1 against one another; the winner of this stream will tilt the record in their favor!

Game one went to Tower Control at Hagglefish Market. FTWin swapped out Shak for sam. The teams tested the waters against one another for the first minute; the furthest the tower had been pushed was 4 points. Shortly after, FTWin was wiped out, giving Milky Way their opportunity to put meaningful points on the scoreboard. Halfway through the game they cleared the first checkpoint; it took them another minute to pass the second and third, finally stopping at 2 ticks remaining to knock out. FTWin was able to pass their first checkpoint in overtime, but would come up short 55-98.

Game two was Turf War at Crableg Capital; FTWin was the first team with Danger! overhead, before a minute had passed, but did not have it hanging over them for long, as they wiped out Milky Way and re-established a hold. They went back to Danger! again after going down three players in the last minute, and in the last handful of seconds, FTWin ended up wiped out. The game’s result was 38.6% to 57.3%, not in FTWin’s favor.

Splat Zones at MakoMart was FTWin’s chance to reignite; by the end of the first minute, they had burned through all of the penalty points they would receive in the entire game. They were able to paint over Milky Way’s attempts to retake the zone, and solidly win their first game of the set in a knockout with over three minutes remaining!

Game four saw weapon changes to adapt to Urchin Underpass, but no Ink Vacs to account for Rainmaker. Milky Way took the early advantage, getting the first checkpoint and carrying the Rainmaker through the grates. FTWin followed up with Triple Inkstrikes to clear their way through the first checkpoint, and with a minute and a half left, took the lead as they passed through the grates and kept going, all the way to 27. Milky Way tried to mount a push to set up for a strong overtime push, but would ultimately see the game end before overtime, for another FTWin victory, 73-55.

Clam Blitz at Museum d’Alfonsino took three minutes for either team to score. In the meantime, we did see two Crab Tanks set up on the middle spinner and fight one another; somehow, both players walked away un-splatted! Breaking the stalemate, with about two minutes left in the game, Milky Way’s jump-in assault on FTWin’s clam basket saw their first and only push bring their score from 100 to 25. Even in overtime, FTWin did not score any clams for themselves, which meant their final score was 0-75, and they had to defend themselves once more in a Grand Finals Reset.

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

The Grand Finals Reset began with Turf War at MakoMart. FTWin couldn’t get any wins this game; first, they were consistently down more players than the other team. Second, they were in Danger! as early as one minute in. Third, a teammate disconnected halfway through, and they had to play at a permanent disadvantage. The total ink coverage was 96.6%, the same as Loser’s Finals and the current record-holding percent! However, the win would not be FTWin’s, as their score sat at 29.5% to 67.1%.

On Splat Zones at Inkblot Art Academy, another disconnection occurred, this time taking out two players on each team–this DC would result in a replay. It took 41 seconds for the zone to be claimed for the first time, which FTWin would do so, but wouldn’t hold it long before Milky Way claimed it with the lead. A Booyah Bomb from FTWin rounded out a wipeout on Milky Way, giving FTWin the zone back, and 30 seconds later, they had the lead again. Once more, however, Milky Way swarmed in and recapped the zone, holding it and regaining the lead, ending the game in a knockout.

Rainmaker at Hagglefish Market, with all its shortcuts, was FTWin’s key to success. They took their first checkpoint powered by an Ink Vac, and after taking down three of Milky Way’s team, they used the pedestal to hop into the enemy base and take their Rainmaker to 9. With another Ink Vac, they got it all the way down to 1. With this hefty lead, Milky Way would not be able to best it; the closest they could get in overtime was to 36. The game ended 99-64 in favor of FTWin.

Tower Control at Crableg Capital lived up to its name, with Crab Tanks constantly online and in use. They were on the towers, clearing checkpoints, scrapping with one another. Milky Way got their first and second checkpoints this way, and how they got to their third checkpoint. They got all the way to 8 remaining–FTWin, meanwhile, was only able to get 8 points to their name before the game was over, with a final score of 8-92.

Only one week remains in the 2025 Splatoon 3 North American League. It’s “Now or Never” for the teams as they fight for the final placements to qualify for the Playoffs on December 13 and 14, to become the first-ever North American League champions!

Original Posting Date: November 18, 2025

Written and formatted for publication by YELLOW.