Snow Festival Cup
Top 8 Summary
Fuuramun is the only familiar player on Chan♪, but they all still put up a good fight.
Chan♪ counterpicking to Inkblot was pretty scary. Onyanko Club seemed very comfortable on that map (and actually counterpick to it in one of their two losses later on in the tournament).
Humpback makes sense since they have an Explosher and Blaster, but it wasn’t enough. Chan♪’s comp looked like it had difficulties against Bubble as well.
Very surprising that Rarubin System actually played 2 H-3 Nozzlenose D + 2 Blasters for most of the tournament, even during groups. Gogo Tea, N Ura, and Puremia are fairly well-known players though.
With Manta and Starfish as Rire Ace’s counterpicks, it looks like they were aiming for maps that favoured their Ballpoint. The new kit seems to work especially well on those two stages. Someone on Rarubin System mentioned having a hard time against the Kensa Splattershot Pro here, which was neat to hear. Didn’t get to see how effective those Booyah Bombs might have been.
And with 2 Blasters on Rarubin System, it’s no surprise that they go to MakoMart.
After the set, Rarubin System mentioned having difficulties against the Ballpoint and praised their skill.
That same triple Brella team is back.
Wakusei Poyo likely aimed for Triggerfish because their preferred team comp works well on it. Himawari is the same Explosher player that got 3rd at SJOpen Final. I don’t think they expected Benza to be able to play Tenta Brella though.
Unsure about the Humpback pick. It’s a good map for Explosher and Kensa Sloshing Machine, but KasaUdo actually counterpick to it in a later set.
Missing quarterfinals set is likely:
My member
ninniku: Custom Blaster, Rapid Blaster Deco, Enperry/Kensa Splat Dualies
Riru: H-3 Nozzlenose D
Shiro: Firefin/Splatterscope
Sono: Splat Brella, Neo Splash-o-matic, Custom Dualie Squelchers, Tri-Slosher, Kensa/Sloshing Machine, Ballpoint Splatling
vs
Haibokusha
Hideyoshi: (unknown, very flexible player but known for being a dualie player)
Libya: (unknown, very flexible player that’s used things from NZAP85 to Rapid to Slosher Deco to Splat Brella in the past)
Pochitama: Splat Roller, Carbon Rollers
Riu-kun: Ballpoint Splatling, maybe also Nouveau
Top 4 Summary
Interesting that Yamamicchi sticks with Enperry on Starfish. The Kensa variant is what most folks switch to on this map, which ninniku did here. Leaf also sticks to Ballpoint Nouveau, which would be interesting if that becomes his default pick. Until very recently before Ballpoint Nouveau came out, he would use Heavy Deco instead.
Onyanko Club again seem to be very comfortable on Inkblot, countering to it this time. That Kensa Rapid Blaster looks especially annoying to deal with.
Not too sure about the Blackbelly pick. It’s considered one of the worse Splat Brella maps, so you see Sono switching to Tri-Slosher. It’s a popular choice due to Burst Bombs. Painapo wisely switches to Kensa Luna for Blackbelly as well. He seemed very happy about his Fizzy Bomb spam.
Port Mackerel was a very interesting counterpick for My member. They probably didn’t think Mashuu would switch to Enperry, though it’s been a while since I’ve seen 2x Enperry here. Sono switches weapons again, this time to the regular Sloshing Machine. Despite My member having 2 Sting Rays, Onyanko Club ends up taking the game without a single Sting Ray weapon.
But 2x Sting Ray on Port Mackerel was never really a thing in Japan. They’ve mostly focused on Curling Bombs since the beginning.
Something to note is that ninniku didn’t use a Blaster all set. Very surprising considering his team countered to Blackbelly. He seems to be trying out a variety of weapons lately in tournaments.
2 H3D + 2 Blasters vs 3 Brellas and a charger was very odd to see.
Rarubin System manage to win the first game, but it all goes downhill from here.
2x Brella is considered strong on Snapper, so no surprise that KasaUdo counterpick to it. Benza goes Sorella Brella instead of the normal Splat Brella for 2x Ink Storm. The Blasters switch to Rapids, saying “this is the meta, isn’t it?” They had a terrible time and a lot of difficulties maintaining map control. They weren’t playing well together and started to tilt.
They counterpick to Humpback because Blasters are good there. But again, they have trouble maintaining map control. You really need to help out allies to team up against Brellas, but some of the players seemed to go off and do their own thing.
Rarubin System try another map that favours Blasters. However, the players are really frustrated at the Brellas. They’re rushing in and not really helping teammates. They’re so tilted that during the last 20 seconds of the game, something happens and the stream momentarily dies.
I’m always very confused when I hear folks in the West say Blasters beat Brellas. Mirin Cake’s Splat Brella guide makes it seem like it’s pretty even.
Nothing unusual in the first two games.
Onyanko Club take a bit of time to decide which map to counterpick to. The Brellas are pretty strong even if Blackbelly is supposedly one of their weaker maps. Good on Udonman to stick to the Brella name. He’s recently shown that he’s able to switch to Kensa Sloshing Machine there. Painapo is very thankful for the Fizzy Bombs once again.
A bit confused about the Humpback pick again. Udonman should especially know that Leaf can switch to Heavy Deco here. I thought the Bubbles might give the Brellas a hard time unless Benza saves his Bomb Rush for it.
Yamamicchi is a monster as always. Painapo was mostly using Kensa Rapid for the tournament, but it still seems like a good choice against the Brellas when used properly.
Rarubin System seemed like they were still super tilted. The 4 H3D comp was actually working for a bit due to how well they can paint.
Very unsure about the Triggerfish pick, but I guess this is their way of having some fun.
Back to Humpback as their counterpick as well as their usual team comp for the tournament. Maybe this is a sign they’re feeling better. But after that game, the stream died, so I guess not.
Main Weapon Usage
Udonman was the only Kensa Brella. Mashuu was the only Dark Tetra player.
Due to Rarubin System’s favoured comp (2 H3D + 2 Custom Blaster), those numbers look a little weird. Everything else seems fine. The regular and Kensa Brellas are doing alright, the Kensa Rapid makes a grand appearance, and the Ballpoint Nouveau seems to have picked up in usage.
Special Weapon Usage
Again, Rarubin System makes some things look a little weird.
This is probably the lowest I’ve ever seen Sting Ray for a mostly intact Top 8. It’s likely to be a bit higher since that missing set had My member, a team with a charger that’s fine with both Sting Ray and Bomb Rush. Not being seen on 4 of the 13 maps definitely hurts its overall usage rate.
Main Ability Usage
No Ninja Squid this tournament.
I had suspicions that certain weapons and players would drop Stealth Jump or Comeback for Main Power Up. It’s still far too early to tell, but there are some interesting choices already being seen.
- Yamamicchi’s dropped Stealth Jump for 2 mains of Main Power Up.
- Mashuu normally used Comeback in the past, but has dropped it completely. He’s only using 1 sub of Main Power Up. He’s also gone from 1 to 3 subs of Ink Resistance Up now.
- I don’t think Puremia or N Ura were Comeback users before, so they also help push QR to the top and Comeback down.
Mashuu was the only Dark Tetra player, so you can see how much he influenced the mains usage. Puremia also ran with 2 QR mains on Custom Blaster.
No real surprises here.
One of the first times I’ve seen H3D players with Main Power Up in tournament. Not nearly as universal as the Splat Dualies or Ballpoint using it though.
Feel free to look at all the data and more via the links below!
Link to Spreadsheet
Link to HTML version of Spreadsheet
