sendou.ink

Make a sendou.ink account
Select your map pool
Weapon pool
Voice chat
Avoiding Splattercolor Screen
Bio
Friend code
Reading rules
Joining solo
Joining with 1-3 mates
Plus Server icons
Adding a note
Inactivity
Group managers
Rechallenging
Canceling the match
Enemy not reporting
Private note
Joining again with the same group
Stats
Ranking algorithm
Ranking tiers
Rank history
Team ranking
Ranked tournaments
SendouQ Season Finale
Off-season

General info

SendouQ is a community made matchmaking system. It features leaderboards and a season system. Everyone is free to join no matter if they are new to competitive Splatoon or a top level player. The system aims to connect people with similar skill levels with each other. It's different from what the game offers (Anarchy Battle, X Rank etc.) in that the sets are best out of 7 and you choose your teammates.

Before joining

Make a sendou.ink account

Click “log in” on the front page (mobile) or top right (desktop). Agree to connecting your Discord account, you will be redirected and the account is made.

Select your map pool

Optional - if you don't have a preference then skip this step and other players in the lobby get to choose. On the settings page first select your preference of each of the five modes. Avoid means you'd rather not play the mode. Neutral means you don't have strong feelings either way. Prefer means you like this mode over neutral modes. These choices later affect what modes you will be playing. In SendouQ you might play a set with SZ/TC/RM/CB or only TC or TC/RM or any other combination. It all depends on what players in that match have chosen.

For each mode that you didn't avoid also choose 7 maps. Again the choices you make are in part deciding what map lists you will be playing on. You can't choose maps that are excluded from the map pool for the season (banned). Banned maps are typically those with least likelihood to appear in tournaments or generally have been very rarely picked based on the data of previous seasons.

Finally hit save to save your preference (also do this for each step below).

Weapon pool

Choose up to 4 weapons that you will be playing. Don't skip this step as it's important for team building reasons.

Voice chat

Select whether you can voice chat, listen only or neither. Also select the languages you speak. Again this is an important step so don't skip this one. Note if you select that you can voice chat it's expected that you will join the voice chat when asked.

Avoiding Splattercolor Screen

You can select to avoid Splattercolor Screen. This option exists for accessibility reasons. Toggling this option means screen will be banned in all sets you play. But also note that groups challenging your group will see that screen would be banned in your set so it's not advised to select this option unnecessarily.

Bio

On your user profile page put a short description to your bio about your previous competitive experience etc. information you think would be useful for team building purposes.

Friend code

On the SendouQ front page enter your friend code. It's your responsibility to make sure it matches the account you will be playing on. Anything else will be considered alting by default which is against the rules. If you need to change friend code after setting it use the helpdesk on our Discord server or contact Sendou directly via DM.

Reading rules

Read the rules. You agree to follow them when you play SendouQ.

Joining the queue

Joining solo

Click “Join solo” on the SendouQ front page.

Joining with 1-3 mates

Click “Join with mates” on the SendouQ front page. On the following page share the invite link with your mates. You can also “Quick add” mates if they are in the same sendou.ink team or they played with you before and selected the option to let you do this.

Click “Join the queue” after your mates have joined.

Finding a group

If you didn't join with a full group of 4 next you will join a screen where the aim is to get a full group. You do this by getting other people join your group or merging with other groups. Click the “Invite” button for any group you would like to group up with considering the weapons, skill level and other factors. There is no downside in sending more invites so it's not advised to only send one invite at a time and waiting for them to accept but keep sending new invites till you find a match.

Naturally other groups can also invite you in which case it's up to you to decide whether to accept or not. There is no explicit decline invite feature so if you don't want to group up then just don't click the “Group up” button.

Repeat this grouping up process till you have a full group of 4.

Plus Server icons

Icon above means that the player is a member of the Plus Server. See FAQ for more info.

Adding a note

You can add a public note if you want to communicate something to other groups that might influence grouping up somehow. E.g. message that you will be streaming the set with VC so people who don't want to appear on stream can avoid your group.

Inactivity

If you don't do any actions for 30 minutes your group will be marked inactive and hidden. Click the prompt that you are still looking to be visible again.

Group managers

Only the group owner or manager can send invites. When groups merge then the previous owner and manager will have it in the new group as well. Group owner can give the manager role by clicking the star icon and selecting "Give manager".

Finding an opponent

Like with finding a group you will get presented a list of groups you can challenge. Typically choosing a group with similar skill level might result in the best match but you are free to challenge group of any level (and they are free to not accept). You will also see the modes the set would have before deciding on challenging/accepting.

Rechallenging

Sometimes it can take a while for a group to accept your challenge. If you don't have a strong preference about modes you might consider "Rechallenging" the team on their mode preferences. In some cases it might help you get into a match faster.

Playing the match

When you have a match it's time to join the room. The person who first volunteers in the match chat will host the room. Use the pool and password provided. As host remember to use the Y button (letter icon) to send invites periodically as if people joined the pool after you by default they don't see the room. As a player joining the room the room will appear in the "letter tab". Press X to refresh the view and if you are not seeing it then ask the host to send you an invite.

Then just play matches till either team has reached 4 wins and report the score. Your SP will be adjusted after both teams report the score.

Canceling the match

Match can be canceled if both teams agree to (read the rules). Click the cancel button to request canceling the match. If the other team agrees then they can also click it to confirm and lock the match.

Enemy not reporting

As the first measure contact the opponent and politely remind them to. If that is not working then come to the helpdesk channel on our Discord to get help from admin.

Private note

After the set you can leave private notes about your teammates. If you had good experience with someone why not leave a positive reminder so you remember to group up with them in future as well? Likewise if you did not have such a good time playing with someone you can leave a negative note. The sentiment affects their sorting in the group up phase. Clicking their avatar in the group up phase will show what you wrote about them.

Joining again with the same group

As a group owner you can use the "Look again with same group" to instantly join the queue with the same roster. Note that this button should only be used if you checked with all your mates that they can still play another set.

Stats

While reporting the score you can also report weapons. You can view statistics on your user profile. You can for example see your win rate with different weapons on each stage by clicking its row on the "Stages" tab or view your winrates with different mates on the "Teammates" tab.