Teamwork & Strategy: the Match Winning Combination

The Tower Control section has finally been finished and added!

Tower Control

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So now we're finally getting onto Tower Control, which I personally believe to be the most difficult mode. It takes both a well executed strategy, and even then it's incredibly easy to make a mistake. This is my personal opinion, so for others this may be the preferred mode, but as far as my play style I have the most trouble with this. However, we need to cover it. This also will likely be the largest section of all, so buckle up.

Tower Control is, put simply, a game of Splat Zones where the zone moves. The overall strategy is to guard the area around the tower. While it's simple in wording, applying the proper technique to doing so is extremely difficult, especially when the group can't communicate. The biggest fallback is the lack of being able to tell your allies when to "stall" the tower (stalling the tower is when the player hops off the tower, but remain close by to jump back on and keep it from going back to the start position). Stalling the tower lets you use the tower itself as a wall to block incoming fire, as well as let your team catch up to gain more control instead of pushing too far and giving your enemies control of the tower.


Here's an example of the Tower Control mode, with the location of the tower marked in red. As I mentioned earlier, this mode is played similarly to Splat Zones in regards to how the players gain control of the area around the objective. The area the players initially want to gain control of is outlined in orange. The reason being, is the image below:


This level in particular has a lot of ways to get to the center from the spawn; the orange depicts the potential paths to the center. There's more potential paths than there are players. It's another reason why control is so important in this mode, as with any other mode; once you have control, you have dominance over the map.


Moving right along, this is where it gets difficult. The zone moves, as I mentioned before, so you can't just stay in control of the center of the map, unless you really want to go for that end game time out victory (which is not advised unless you've got about 20 seconds left on the clock and are winning, which will be explained in the end game section). So what do we do to accommodate for this sudden change? We move our control area. Before we take a look at the control area though, let's take a look at the threatening pathways our opponents can take again, now that the tower's moved.


The threat is more limited in terms of potential paths, but because of the positioning of the tower, it becomes extremely difficult to guard these areas well. In fact, one of these spots is almost directly above the tower, and has an extremely easy time stopping any kind of forward advance from happening, when played correctly. As you can see, threat from the lower right hand side of the stage is non-existent, so long as part of the center is still controlled, so the new area we want to try to get control of will look something like this:


The tower is clearly controlled by these sections of the map, and to compensate for this your team needs to help you gain control of this new area. Comparing the last two images to each other, we can see that the orange lines overlap - this means that, if the pushing team is working well together, the enemy will not be able to even advance to the tower, until it's at their doorstep. This scenario is extremely unlikely, because somebody needs to be on the tower, so the team defending the areas shown above are essentially a 3v4. This isn't even 100% true though, because multiple players can be on the tower at once! Because of all this, it becomes a very hectic and difficult game mode to win at. So now that the introduction to Tower Control has been done, let's get into the stages of the game.

The Beginning​

As with Splat Zones, this will be the first 30 seconds or so that you and your team will jump into the fray and begin with your first encounters. 9 times out of 10, this dictates who has control of the objective. The key here is to fight for control of the area, and not go immediately for the tower. Without control of the area, your team cannot support you.


Here's an example - if you don't wait for your team to gain control of the area around the objective, your team will be left behind dealing with whatever players are in the area still, while you're stuck out in enemy lines (if you're lucky enough to stay on the tower as long as this image depicts).

Mid Game​

This part of the battle starts when control has been decided and one team has control of the tower. This is also split up into two sides - the winning side and losing side.

The winning side is the one who pushed the tower toward the goal further. This means, so long as your player pushing the tower doesn't rush ahead, you and your allies dictate the flow of the battle. Keep it moving steadily along, and slowly push to victory, and hopefully the Knockout victory.

The losing side has a bit of a comeback to make here, but plenty of time to do so. Your goal is to find the spot that's unguarded by your opponents, and bring the tower under your control. Be sure to apply enough pressure to prevent the tower from advancing further into your territory.

End Game​

The end game is the last 30 seconds or so of the match (unlike Splat Zones' end game, the Overtime in Tower Control is considerably shorter and easier to stop in most cases). This is the last chance to make one final push for victory.

The winning side is the team who is ahead on the scoreboard. At this point, you have two options: first, if you're already pushing the tower, keep pushing as always. The second option is, if the tower is reset or the enemy team has control, begin defending the tower and just keeping your enemies off it.

The losing side's job is to gain & keep control of the tower. Once you get control, your team needs to actively begin controlling the necessary area as tower moves. This is difficult, but remember you don't need to get a Knockout victory to win here, just to get a higher score than the enemy team (unless they have a score of 1). Unleash all your specials to clear the way here, because you won't have another chance.

And the Tower Control section is finally finished! Now onto Rainmaker



**Icons have also been added under the title of each section as to notably effective Special weapons in each mode**

The Rainmaker section has been added.

Rainmaker
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Rainmaker is more complex than either Tower Control or Splat Zones, but not necessarily as difficult in terms of strategic thinking. The best way for me to explain this will be to treat it like a sport, and I'll be explaining each part of the match. This is the most hectic and active mode of the three ranked modes, and will take some getting used to. However, with solid teamwork and a bit of critical thinking, you can overpower your opponents and win.

So the sport of Rainmaker is a match that comprises of two teams of four, obviously, one goal per team, and one ball (the Rainmaker). The object of the game is to place the Rainmaker in the other team's goal within five minutes. If the time runs out before either team scores, the team that had the Rainmaker closer to the enemy goal throughout the duration of the game is the winner. There's a few points which need to be addressed before we dive into the beginning/mid/end game, and those points are regarding the rules of the game:

The Rainmaker starts in the middle, and waits for a team to gain "control" over it, by popping the protective covering it has. Once popped, the Rainmaker is vulnerable, and can be picked up by any player (it's easier to pick it up when your team pops the bubble, because it covers a considerable amount of turf nearby).

Once a player has control over the Rainmaker, they become the ball, to put it simply. While holding the Rainmaker, the closer the player gets to the goal, the higher the score you gain for your team, with an instant knockout victory when said player places the Rainmaker on the goal.

Finally, if the player with the Rainmaker is taken out, the Rainmaker resets, gains its protective coating again, and the opening plays start over again.

What's the opening play? Put simply, it's how the beginning of the game goes. This mode is different than the others, with the fact that the Rainmaker resets and stays at its current location (unless it falls off the edge of the map). Because of this, the format will be different than the others thus far - instead of beginning, mid game, and end game, we have opening plays, as well as defensive/offensive plays. The time is moreso the limit of the match, as opposed to affecting how the game should be played like Turf War and Splat Zones. So without further adieu, let's talk strategy.

Opening Plays
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An opening play is how you are going to get the Rainmaker bubble to pop in your favor, so your team can get it with ease. To start out, you don't always want to go straight for popping the bubble - you need to assess the situation. Make sure your team has control before going straight for the ball. Obviously if the enemy team grabs it, take them out immediately (going straight for the Rainmaker like that often leaves the player in question exposed & easy to deal with). Control is key, as with any other mode.

One note I would like to make about this, the Opening Play is for any time the Rainmaker resets.

Offensive Plays
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Now getting into the first of the main parts, the offensive plays are the ones made when somebody on your team has grabbed the Rainmaker. Once this happens, there are two key things that need to happen here from both the perspective of the Carrier and the rest of the team, called Screeners.


-The Carrier is the player who grabbed the Rainmaker (marked as the red dot). The Carrier's job is to not die, and provide supporting fire with his or her newly obtained weapon of mass inkage. The most crucial part of playing this role is do not overextend. The Rainmaker has incredible power from long distances, but is more than lackluster at close range. Once it gets to that point, unless you're extraordinarily lucky, you've dropped the ball. Stay behind your team, slowly advancing while giving supporting fire from your weapon, and abuse your range as much as possible (the only time you should not be firing is while advancing - remember, your weapon doesn't run out of ink, but you'll blow up if you wait too long). In the event of a team wipe, don't run away, just try to make a mad dash for the goal, or try to pick people off. Running away just makes it that much easier for the enemy team to get closer to your goal. One final tip: use "C'mon!" or "To me!" if you're being flanked. Swim toward a nearby ally who can take them out.

-The Screeners are the remaining three players on the team (marked as the orange dots), whose job is to protect & support the Carrier. The most important thing for Screeners is do not be standing anywhere behind the Carrier - you need to be in front of them, making sure enemies can't get close. Being behind them does absolutely no good, because of how their weapon works. They can provide incredible supporting fire from far behind you, but if they're in front the enemy will just get close and take your carrier out. Keep an eye out for your Rainmaker spamming "C'mon!" or "To me!", because if they're doing this they're likely being flanked by somebody. Remember, while your team controls the Rainmaker, you're almost fighting 3v4, because the Rainmaker can't engage directly in combat, as well as has no subs/specials available to get them out of a tight spot.

This sums up offensive play fairly well. In regards to the timer, your saving grace, should you be behind, is Overtime. In order to engage Overtime, your team must be either:

A) Carrying the Rainmaker

B) Must have splatted the opponents' carrier within ~10 seconds prior to the timer hitting 0 (I have no conclusive proof that this is the case, but it's something along these lines).

Defensive Plays
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Defensive plays are when the opposing team has control of the Rainmaker. As a whole, your team's objective at this point is to take out the Carrier and completely stop your opponents' advance. However, this is not the only part of defensive plays - you're also trying to slow your enemies advance as much as possible while waiting for your team to take out the Carrier.


Expanding on the image used earlier, the white dots are the defenders. In this particular example, it becomes impossible to advance without your opponents taking at least two of your players out. The best way to have your team take advantage of this opportunity is to pressure somebody back, and force them to be out of position, letting your team move somebody in and quickly take out the Carrier. For example:


In this example we see the two defending players grouping up on a weak link, forcing them back. One player can pressure them from moving back up while the second runs around behind the Carrier, taking them out. This is a rough and simple example, but it shows the kind of thinking that needs to be applied. Keep in mind that if the Rainmaker were behind the player indicated as the "weak link", it's more than likely this plan would fail, and the Rainmaker would be able to push forward.

One good thing to make note of is where the Carrier is, and where not to splat him at.


If you take out the Carrier in any of these four areas marked with red dots, don't forget the only way to get up there is through the pathways that lead toward their base (there's small inkable blocks that let you climb up before you go all the way into their territory, but it's still difficult to get to with four players guarding both passages). If you're on the losing side, these are extremely difficult points to get the Rainmaker back from. Be sure to pay attention to the Rainmaker's position before trying to take them out.