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Splatoon 2 A Strange Case of Tentabrella

The Salamander King

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I'll be the first to say that I've been wrong about Brellas in the past. I remember the old days of "The Splat Brella is Mediocre at Best", and I was on that train for a long time. The only reason I harped on the Brella before the buff was because of how slowly the shield popped out, and how most weapons could kill it in the opening frames. I have ragged on the other 2 Brellas for similar reasons. Bad painting, slow speed, inconsistent damage output, etc.

Which is why it's interesting that I can now say, without hyperbole, that I think the Tentabrella is sleeper OP at times. Before I go on, take note of the "at times" disclaimer.

The Tentabrella has been getting a lot more play lately, and it's easy to see why. The kit, the main weapon, and the playstyle fit the Clam Blitz game mode perfectly. By popping bubbles, and shooting out your shield, you can almost guarantee a successful push on most CB maps. This is where my "sleeper OP" claim comes into effect. The Tentabrella is probably the best weapon for pushing in Clam Blitz.

The Tentabrella comes with some problems, however. Just about everything it does is below average in the speed stat. Paints slow, shoots slow, kills slow (unless you're at really close range) and the kit requires some patience to utilize correctly.

But the largest problem affecting the Tentabrella isn't any of these. In fact, the biggest downside of the Tentabrella is the fact that internet in the West sucks when compared to the East. With slower connections, people can often shoot through a Tenta's shield. With the weapon's greatest strength put on the line, it's only really useful A) at a LAN, or B) in Japan, where the wifi is basically LAN.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts on the viability of the Tentabrella.
 
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ϛ(°³°)/`

Inkling Commander
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I’ve been meaning to learn to play the Tenta Brella because I need a better CB weapon, and its defensive utility fits my play style more than most weapons anyway. It’s good to see I was on the right track with my thinking, considering some of the more competitive players are starting to bring this weapon into the spotlight; Sendou made a video recently on the topic and it looks like it’s among the top 5 weapons for usage in CB according to Splat Meta.

I’ll still push against QR for solo queue though - I’m not convinced it’s valuable outside of tournaments.
 

Metasepia

Inkling Cadet
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Jun 16, 2018
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+1 on the latency issue with the shields. I would often times have the shield be completely open and would still get splatted. And as for how it plays... I'm not a fan but can definitely see how it would rise to be one of the best pushing weapon in Clams.

I'd consider the Brellas as blasters that sacrifice killing power for more supportive qualities, and the Tenta feels like the Range blaster of the Brellas. it certainly isn't beginner friendly thanks to the slow speed and lack of escape options but it is quite a beast in the right hands.

But what about the Sorella kit? Is it utter compost or is there some niche it can fill?
 

AllToonedUp

Inkling Cadet
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+1 on the latency issue with the shields. I would often times have the shield be completely open and would still get splatted. And as for how it plays... I'm not a fan but can definitely see how it would rise to be one of the best pushing weapon in Clams.

I'd consider the Brellas as blasters that sacrifice killing power for more supportive qualities, and the Tenta feels like the Range blaster of the Brellas. it certainly isn't beginner friendly thanks to the slow speed and lack of escape options but it is quite a beast in the right hands.

But what about the Sorella kit? Is it utter compost or is there some niche it can fill?
As a person that mains Sorella and uses it in X zones, I think it's a good alternate for zones if you don't want to use vSplat. Launching shield + bomb launcher is a good way to conquer zones and autobombs force people to move which is valuable in general. It's pretty good all-around if you already know how to use vSplat and manage its ink consumption.

Also launching the canopy and swimming with it is a reasonable escape option once you get the timing down. Splat is arguably one of the trickiest frontliners to deal with since no other type of weapon can fill its offensive + defensive capabilities.
 

AllToonedUp

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I'll be the first to say that I've been wrong about Brellas in the past. I remember the old days of "The Splat Brella is Mediocre at Best", and I was on that train for a long time. The only reason I harped on the Brella before the buff was because of how slowly the shield popped out, and how most weapons could kill it in the opening frames. I have similarly ragged on the other 2 Brellas for similar reasons. Bad painting, slow speed, inconsistent damage output, etc.

Which is why it's interesting that I can now say, without hyperbole, that I think the Tentabrella is sleeper OP at times. Before I go on, take note of the "at times" disclaimer.

The Tentabrella has been getting a lot more play lately, and it's easy to see why. The kit, the main weapon, and the playstyle fit the Clam Blitz game mode perfectly. By popping bubbles, and shooting out your shield, you can almost guarantee a successful push on most CB maps. This is where my "sleeper OP" claim comes into effect. The Tentabrella is probably the best weapon for pushing in Clam Blitz.

The Tentabrella comes with some problems, however. Just about everything it does is below average in the speed stat. Paints slow, shoots slow, kills slow (unless you're at really close range) and the kit requires some patience to utilize correctly.

But the largest problem affecting the Tentabrella isn't any of these. In fact, the biggest downside of the Tentabrella is the fact that internet in the West sucks when compared to the East. With slower connections, people can often shoot through a Tenta's shield. With the weapon's greatest strength put on the line, it's only really useful A) at a LAN, or B) in Japan, where the wifi is basically LAN.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts on the viability of the Tentabrella.
Personally I find Tenta to be one of the best support weapons in the right hands and its huge shield gives it a good niche for approaching and denying people from going in certain areas (Ex. Triggerfish). It's basically a blaster with a shield, which is already a huge perk, however I think the reason why the west doesn't use it as much is because of unfamiliarity (Brellas in general are already uncommon) and it's very slow.

Before Tenta became meta in CB people often thought it was "garbage tier" because it was slow and had inconsistent damage, then Japan worked around its weaknesses and now it's one of the most picked weapons in that mode which leads to another problem. The US (and UK scene to a degree) often emulate strategies from Japan without forming their own. "Explosher sucks" [is a great backliner] "Chargers suck now" [still consistently good in tower] "H-3 is awful" [great support weapon]. It's like the moment Japan picks up something, everyone wants to pick it up or at least see why it's good.

All in all, I think Tenta fills its niche nicely which is why it's so good in the first place. When you really think about it, it's stats are actually really good minus it's slowness (Can one shot, big shield with high health, good strafing speed). As long as Tenta is a good pusher and has unique support capabilities I can't really see it being outclassed by anything.
 

The Salamander King

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Personally I find Tenta to be one of the best support weapons in the right hands and its huge shield gives it a good niche for approaching and denying people from going in certain areas (Ex. Triggerfish). It's basically a blaster with a shield, which is already a huge perk, however I think the reason why the west doesn't use it as much is because of unfamiliarity (Brellas in general are already uncommon) and it's very slow.

Before Tenta became meta in CB people often thought it was "garbage tier" because it was slow and had inconsistent damage, then Japan worked around its weaknesses and now it's one of the most picked weapons in that mode which leads to another problem. The US (and UK scene to a degree) often emulate strategies from Japan without forming their own. "Explosher sucks" [is a great backliner] "Chargers suck now" [still consistently good in tower] "H-3 is awful" [great support weapon]. It's like the moment Japan picks up something, everyone wants to pick it up or at least see why it's good.

All in all, I think Tenta fills its niche nicely which is why it's so good in the first place. When you really think about it, it's stats are actually really good minus it's slowness (Can one shot, big shield with high health, good strafing speed). As long as Tenta is a good pusher and has unique support capabilities I can't really see it being outclassed by anything.
Another huge problem with using the Tenta that I somehow forgot to mention is the presence of Blasters. The Custom Blaster is often considered the best weapon in the game (along with Emperries) and it hard-counters Brellas. One of the reasons it's probably only really viable in CB is because Blasters are less common.

Speaking of Blasters, if say, a Kensa Rapid/Kensa Slosher gets Bubbles and Wall or some similar kit I could possibly see Tenta getting replaced.

But yeah, I don't think any Brellas will ever truly become top tier for very long, just because of the amount of lag outside of Japan, and the fact that Blasters are some of the most common weapons in the game.
 

AllToonedUp

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Another huge problem with using the Tenta that I somehow forgot to mention is the presence of Blasters. The Custom Blaster is often considered the best weapon in the game (along with Emperries) and it hard-counters Brellas. One of the reasons it's probably only really viable in CB is because Blasters are less common.

Speaking of Blasters, if say, a Kensa Rapid/Kensa Slosher gets Bubbles and Wall or some similar kit I could possibly see Tenta getting replaced.

But yeah, I don't think any Brellas will ever truly become top tier for very long, just because of the amount of lag outside of Japan, and the fact that Blasters are some of the most common weapons in the game.
I agree that the poor netcode is part of why people don't pick up Brella, however there are some things that I disagree with plus my general thoughts on the matter.

The whole "Blasters countering Brellas" is a common misconception. Yes Blasters can shoot over the shield, but you have to remember that Blasters are slow and rely heavily on one shots, and a good brella won't simply let you do that. With proper spacing, you can hit the blaster while they're stuck in end lag and shoot them down OR (do the more riskier option) get close enough to pressure them and the outer burst doesn't hit you.

It's a check at most, but once you exploit Blasters slowness and they miss their one shot, they're dead. Ironically enough Kensa Luna actually does better against them than Custom because Fizzy Bombs do a lot of shield damage and Luna's firerate when simply holding ZR is reasonably fast. It's even-ish IMO.

Also Brellas (except undercover but we won't talk about that) in general are also do considerably well vs. Inkjet if they have their shield and are in range which is a bonus considering how Inkjet is a top tier threat.

I agree that part of the reason why Tenta is good is because there's less Blasters but that's not really the full case. Tenta's shield launches incredibly fast and is basically a walking Splash Wall which is perfect for running away/ pushing, another thing is that Brellas counter Dualies which is arguably the best weapon class in the game and part of Tenta's niche is it's ridiculously huge shield and Dualies (plus a lot of other weapons) generally have trouble hitting the person if they're shooting and shielding correctly.

So what I'm saying is that the main reason why Tenta (and Splat) are used is to counter/handle top threats such as Enperries and their shields are too good of a niche to not take advantage of and I can't ever see them getting outclassed by anything because of their unique stats.

And Tenta and Splat are meta in Japan, just not elsewhere, if you look at the recent rank X leaderboards on the official Japanese Twitter, Splat is common to see in Top 10 in practically every mode while Tenta is commonly Top 10 in Blitz. A lot of people slept on Brellas, but people are just now realizing how much of a threat they can be. Considering how much Japan influences the game, it should be worth mentioning.
 

The Salamander King

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The whole "Blasters countering Brellas" is a common misconception. Yes Blasters can shoot over the shield, but you have to remember that Blasters are slow and rely heavily on one shots, and a good brella won't simply let you do that. With proper spacing, you can hit the blaster while they're stuck in end lag and shoot them down OR (do the more riskier option) get close enough to pressure them and the outer burst doesn't hit you.

It's a check at most, but once you exploit Blasters slowness and they miss their one shot, they're dead. Ironically enough Kensa Luna actually does better against them than Custom because Fizzy Bombs do a lot of shield damage and Luna's firerate when simply holding ZR is reasonably fast. It's even-ish IMO.
The One, possibly the most prominent Brella player in NA, says that Blasters are a really tough matchup for Brellas.
 

AllToonedUp

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The One, possibly the most prominent Brella player in NA, says that Blasters are a really tough matchup for Brellas.
I'm aware that Brellas struggle against them but it's not unbeatable like everyone says. I'm just stating that Blasters are still quite exploitable when they miss and you can back up and slowly approach them while they're in end lag, they can't always hit around your shield.

If anything I find Sloshers much more difficult since they're much faster and have an even easier time hitting over the shield.
 

AisforAnon

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Brellas destroy shooters brushers and inkjets, but lose to splatlings and blasters and rollers and arguably chargers.

The Tenta Brella specifically is an insanely good support weapon. Absolutely viable. Not insanely good but lots of potential. Takes time to pick up. but never more than one brella on a team imho.

The Sorella is alright, but splash wall on a brella is a bit redundant, and the vanilla is just better.
 

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