Alphine_Agnitio
Trans Bird Trans Bird 🏳⚧️
Hello! I made a small post on bsky, and I was inspired to make a larger post here about a similar topic, half because I want this site to be used more, half because I want this thread to be a useful resource for budding players and teams.
First, some things about me, and an overview of my credentials;
Hi! I'm Alphine! I've been in the scene for about a year and a half now. Currently, I'm the captain for Flour Egg Panko, and I'm also the Team Manager for DeadRatRadio, operating under the Stronghold Beginner Academy service. Due to unique scheduling conflicts(also known as I-work-as-an-elementary-school-janitor), my entire experience throughout the scene has been me making teams, watching as they slowly break apart, then remake from scratch each time, getting better and more refinied at the roles and duties associated with being a team captain with each iteration. (For an exact list, Fresh Start -> Killer Krows -> InkPAWsible -> Flour Egg Panko) First, some things about me, and an overview of my credentials;
I'd like to think I have a good idea of how nearly everything about making, running, and managing a team works. To make this guide digestible, I will break it into bite sized sections!
Part 1 - Forming a Team
Forming a team can be very daunting, even if you have past experience. There's so many things that can go wrong, and at bare minimum, you need to convince 3 other people to follow you along for the ride that a team presents. When making a team, there are 2 BIG things I personally prioritize, above everything else -
1. Overlapping Goals and Availability.Forming a team can be very daunting, even if you have past experience. There's so many things that can go wrong, and at bare minimum, you need to convince 3 other people to follow you along for the ride that a team presents. When making a team, there are 2 BIG things I personally prioritize, above everything else -
This is the BIG BIG thing - teams will NEVER work out if you aren't able to play often to begin with, nor have the same vision in mind. Ideal rule of thumb is to shoot for 2-3 sessions a week(I personally like scheduling 2 scrims, a tournament or event, and a vod review somewhere intermixed if possible.)
2. Friends first, teammates second.
This is a bit more personal, but I find teams that last the longest do so because of pre-established connections and mutual interest outside of Splatoon, a metaphorical glue that holds people together through stormy weather and calm summers alike. Having friendship as a general connection also means people will be more willing to talk issues out instead of waiting til it boils over and becomes solvable to drama.
As for a step by step process on how to make a team;
1. Start by thinking about what you want out a team. Do you want to grind open level weeklies? Go to a LAN? win FTIU and push higher? Deciding this early will help you a lot in the long run, as it gives you a strong base to work off.
2. Once you have a good idea on what you want to do, draft up an Recruiting Team post. It can be as simple as a text post, or a full graphic(examples below.) Make sure to include - Desired weapons, availability, age range, pre-requisites to apply(ex "A Rank or Higher") and anything else that you think is important to note.
3. Once you're ready, post your listing in as many servers as you can find. The Splatoon Recruitment Agency is a good place to start, but make sure to post in as many places as you can find!(Most if not all org servers will have channels dedicated to recruiting, make sure you check!)
4. Take personal agency and scout out players in FA channels - dm players who look promising whenever you can.
examples of team recruitment ads!
Part 2 - Tryouts
Once you have a couple people in your DMs and you're ready, start talking to people to schedule and organize sessions.Make sure to have a discord server or a group dm ready - Don't be overwhelmed by the process, all you really need is a single text and VC channel to start.
Feel free to upsize as much or as little as possible - examples attached below.
Start by finding a timeslot to do a tryout session - you can do this in a lot of ways. Generally speaking, a good rule of thumb is to do a scrim, but if that's not available, queuing with them in Anarchy Open is not a bad option, if you lack availability/players to do a full tryout scrim. When you are trying out a player, make sure you pay attention to the following -
- How does the tryout play?
- Do they tilt easily? if so, are they able to self-adjust quickly?
- What weapons do they play, and do they fit in our(intended) comp?
- What is their availability like, and does it line up with my own/my teams?
1. check their sendou.ink page.
2. their linked socials.(bsky, youtube, twitter, etc)
3. ask around to see what others think about them if you're still unsure.
3b. If you are adding a member to an existing team, make sure that you check with your entire team, and that the feelings on any new member is unanimous.(It will cause issues in the long term if not.)
Repeat this process until you have 4 or more players, then bingo, you have a splatoon 3 team. But wait...?
Part 3 - What Next?
The easy part is over, the hard part is up to you. As a general rule of thumb, try to schedule 2-3 things per week, making time for tournaments and scrims as the main priority.
- Find consistent times that everyone is available based on life obligations(ex if most of your team works consistent mon-fri jobs, find the overlap when they are off work) and set up a weekly schedule based on that.(For example, on Flour Egg Panko, we know we will always be available around noon CST mon-fri and all day Sat/Sun, so we schedule around those timeslots)
- Constantly communicate with your team and teammates to address scheduling changes as they come up.
Note I said "Team Activities" in the last paragraph. One big thing that a lot of newer teams and players take for granted is that you don't necessarily have to be playing Splatoon 3; the video game, to still be doing things as a team. I'd actively recommend it, even! The best teams are those that don't just play Splatoon 3; the video game, for Splatoon 3; the video game, but because of mutual shared interests that keep them together on top of Competitive Splatoon.
Some ideas for things to do as a team, that isn't just scrims/tournaments-
- Casual 2v2 or 3v3 pbs
- Team Meetings(to discuss anything about the team in an open venue)
- Open or Sendouq
- Just hanging and vibing!
Teams that last the longest are those that communicate openly and each individual member puts forth some of their time and effort in good-faith, being committed to the idea of making a team work. In an ideal world, even if conflicts arise, teams can and should be able to discuss their problems and continue on whenever possible. Remember that teams at their base is a set of compromises - people taking their time and putting it towards a mutual shared goal and vision.
Part 4 - Drama and conflict resolution
Unfortunately, not everything is perfect. Sometimes, stuff happens, peoples lives change, they pick up different weapons, you do badly in an event and people start tilting, its unavoidable. While there isn't any universal tips I have for this, as it depends on the person and dynamic, here's a rough outline of how you can and should try to amicably end most conflicts, as they come up.
Scheduling based conflicts -
Part 4 - Drama and conflict resolution
Unfortunately, not everything is perfect. Sometimes, stuff happens, peoples lives change, they pick up different weapons, you do badly in an event and people start tilting, its unavoidable. While there isn't any universal tips I have for this, as it depends on the person and dynamic, here's a rough outline of how you can and should try to amicably end most conflicts, as they come up.
Scheduling based conflicts -
- Propose new times to practice/events to play in, if possible.
- Figure out overlaps in availability that might be more amicable.
- If necessary, pick timeslots that you might not like, but can still make(personal anecdote, I practiced at 11pm-1am CST for at least 2-3 months bc we couldn't play at any other time I was available)
- Schedule a team meeting, if possible to go over what the team wants in general.(ex maybe team members want to practice more/less/at different times)
- Grab a sub or ping servers for pickups, if you desperately want to play in something or need an emergency sub for something that has already been scheduled but last minute changes have happened.
Drama based conflicts -
- Unfortunately, most of the time this is going to be context sensitive.
- Use your best judgement, but avoid making issues bigger then they have to be and keep a level head.
- If people need to go their separate ways, chances are it was more likely to happen then not - don't beat yourself up went things stop working out.
Part 5 - long term plans, and what to do when you lose.
Cool, you have a team, you have a consistent schedule, you're playing in entry level events, scrimming a few other teams once in awhile.
Oh no, we're still going 0-9 in groups! What do we do?
1. Find a coach, if possible - a good coach will be able to help guide you, give you positive resources to work with, and help your entire team improve.
2. Focus on the small victories over the big failures - if you take a game off a team that you were projected to lose to fully, treat it as a win instead of a loss. If possible, arrange to scrim against teams you felt you had even sets against in tournaments.
3. Use scrims as an avenue to practice new ideas and demonstrate potential new tactics, and constantly discuss new ideas, callouts, etc, with your team - the easiest way to win is to keep everyone on the same page.
If you're still struggling despite following the above steps, unfortunately, something is likely going very wrong.
While its a tough thing to think about, and a even tougher conversation to start, consider scheduling a meeting to discuss the future of your team, and if applicable, disband. Make sure to not approach loss/threat of disbanding in a hostile manner, while pursuing every possible avenue of keeping a team going until all options have been exhausted.(Change schedules, try new weapons, practice more/less depending on what the team as a whole wants, adjust team goals based on team sentiment, etc.)
Part 6 - What to do if this is still too daunting?
If this process is still very daunting to you, don't worry, I get it. There is a couple options you have, depending on situation -
- Look for a team as an FA - basically the inverse of a team captain; you're looking for a team as a player instead of making one from scratch.
- Draft Events(This is your Jr Draft, your Setting Sail, your Reach, etc) - you are semi randomly put into draft teams for one event and get to play with those players for that one event, sometimes draft teams stick together for the long term but often times not.
- Stronghold Beginners Academy - a 5 week program where you get put into teams of 5 with an assigned manager & coach as mentor figures - who will help you through the scene and send you on your way once you're ready to graduate.
Note the links above are going to be very outdated very fast, unfortunately not much I can do so make sure you stay up to date on your own time! All of the above resources should be very helpful for getting you into the scene!
I hope this guide is very informative, and helps people newer to the scene get a grasp on the process and what's available to them! Please let me know any feedback you have down below <3
