starry_echo
Inkling
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2023
- Messages
- 13
- Switch Friend Code
- SW-0303-8738-0802
If you're wanting to go competitive with this game, odds are that you're wanting to find a team, or consistent group of players, to practice and improve or have fun with. These are a couple places to get started looking, and also thinking about things that will help your team not have glaring problems from the get-go. Also, I'll be using the term "Free Agent" to refer to an individual who is looking to join a team, rather than invite others to a team of their own.
Links First
If you're going to make or join a team, Discord is where a lot of the community lies. Being able to make a discord server where you can quickly message and voice chat with teammates is really helpful. Here are some servers to look for teams, or advertise your own:
- The Splatoon Recruitment and Free Agency Discord is the biggest one. First go to #role-request to get the associated role for yourself, and then make a message similar to #free-agents or #recruiting-teams.
- Splatoon Stronghold is a HUGE resource generally, and honestly warrants their own post eventually. They have #find-fa and #find-team channels that are open to use!
- Inkling Performance Labs's Discord server has a few channels to post as a free agent or team, as well as a channel to apply to be a sub for a team in a tournament such as Low Ink. To be a sub for these tourneys, you have to pick up the tournaemnt's role in #rules. (i.e. the team's normal fourth player isn't around, but they still want to play in the tourney so they put a message in #find-a-sub)
- Squid School's Discord also has a spot for both free agents and teams: look in the channel #team-recruitment!
You can post in the chats for free agents/teams, but you can also just peruse the chats to see if any team/player catches your eye. If they do, feel free to message them directly! Look at other free agent/team posts to get a feel for what you want to add to your own post!
I know where to look... But who should I look for?
If someone expects a large amount of tournaments, and another person just wants to get on Anarchy Open every couple of days, then that might not end well. It's very important, as EARLY as possible, to have conversations with teams you're trying out for about how committed you are to different parts of the game. A few questions to get you started:
- How often are you going to be playing the game? A couple times per week? Almost daily?
- What other commitments (e.g. full-time job, high school, college) do you have, and how might that affect your availability? For instance, college students will probably have to take breaks near finals week.
- How serious are you about the game? Are you wanting to grind to get to the top, just have a few buddies to play Open with, or something in the middle?
- How serious do you want the team to be looking at the game as a whole?
- What sorts of vibes do you want during play and outside of play? Do you want callouts during practice and to do everything you can do to win, or do you want to have a chill atmosphere with jokes being tossed around?
- Also, outside of the game, make sure your team *feels* right to you! Not vibing with them immediately immediately can be normal (especially with social anxiety), but if you don't enjoy playing with them then it might be better to just keep looking for others.
Having a Personal Statement
After thinking about the above questions, I think it's good to write a short personal statement of how you want to approach the game. This is by no means mandatory, but referring to it when you're looking for a team or members can help you make better decisions about who you're playing with. Putting it in writing can help solidify where you want to go with the game. I'll put a couple examples below.
1. "I'm a high school student who loves playing this game, and I want to get better. I have time almost every day, and am willing to learn a lot about the game and change the weapon I use in order to win, as long as I keep having fun. I want a group that can play often both seriously in team scrimmages, as well as casually in Anarchy Open or Salmon Run."
2. "I'm a student in my last year of college, and will be looking for a job afterwards. I can play the game about 2-3 days each week. I'd like to get better and play a tournament here and there, but more than anything just finding some other like-minded squids to have fun with the game is my first priority."
My own statement: "I'm looking to push this game's execution and understanding. I'm in college, so my time can be tight at times, but I try to analyze as much as possible through reviewing my own replays and Twitch streams of tournaments, and when I'm on the game I have specific things I'm trying to improve. I expect teammates who are similarly willing to get to the top, but also can break the mood in between tournament rounds and talk about things other than just Splatoon."
In general, It's better to wait to find a team you feel good about, than to join one that has yellow flags. You can also play with the people you meet without being on a team with them, which is generally less of a commitment for both time and the emotional bond. With a little patience and commitment, you're sure to find a team you'll be happy playing with.
Links First
If you're going to make or join a team, Discord is where a lot of the community lies. Being able to make a discord server where you can quickly message and voice chat with teammates is really helpful. Here are some servers to look for teams, or advertise your own:
- The Splatoon Recruitment and Free Agency Discord is the biggest one. First go to #role-request to get the associated role for yourself, and then make a message similar to #free-agents or #recruiting-teams.
- Splatoon Stronghold is a HUGE resource generally, and honestly warrants their own post eventually. They have #find-fa and #find-team channels that are open to use!
- Inkling Performance Labs's Discord server has a few channels to post as a free agent or team, as well as a channel to apply to be a sub for a team in a tournament such as Low Ink. To be a sub for these tourneys, you have to pick up the tournaemnt's role in #rules. (i.e. the team's normal fourth player isn't around, but they still want to play in the tourney so they put a message in #find-a-sub)
- Squid School's Discord also has a spot for both free agents and teams: look in the channel #team-recruitment!
You can post in the chats for free agents/teams, but you can also just peruse the chats to see if any team/player catches your eye. If they do, feel free to message them directly! Look at other free agent/team posts to get a feel for what you want to add to your own post!
I know where to look... But who should I look for?
If someone expects a large amount of tournaments, and another person just wants to get on Anarchy Open every couple of days, then that might not end well. It's very important, as EARLY as possible, to have conversations with teams you're trying out for about how committed you are to different parts of the game. A few questions to get you started:
- How often are you going to be playing the game? A couple times per week? Almost daily?
- What other commitments (e.g. full-time job, high school, college) do you have, and how might that affect your availability? For instance, college students will probably have to take breaks near finals week.
- How serious are you about the game? Are you wanting to grind to get to the top, just have a few buddies to play Open with, or something in the middle?
- How serious do you want the team to be looking at the game as a whole?
- What sorts of vibes do you want during play and outside of play? Do you want callouts during practice and to do everything you can do to win, or do you want to have a chill atmosphere with jokes being tossed around?
- Also, outside of the game, make sure your team *feels* right to you! Not vibing with them immediately immediately can be normal (especially with social anxiety), but if you don't enjoy playing with them then it might be better to just keep looking for others.
Having a Personal Statement
After thinking about the above questions, I think it's good to write a short personal statement of how you want to approach the game. This is by no means mandatory, but referring to it when you're looking for a team or members can help you make better decisions about who you're playing with. Putting it in writing can help solidify where you want to go with the game. I'll put a couple examples below.
1. "I'm a high school student who loves playing this game, and I want to get better. I have time almost every day, and am willing to learn a lot about the game and change the weapon I use in order to win, as long as I keep having fun. I want a group that can play often both seriously in team scrimmages, as well as casually in Anarchy Open or Salmon Run."
2. "I'm a student in my last year of college, and will be looking for a job afterwards. I can play the game about 2-3 days each week. I'd like to get better and play a tournament here and there, but more than anything just finding some other like-minded squids to have fun with the game is my first priority."
My own statement: "I'm looking to push this game's execution and understanding. I'm in college, so my time can be tight at times, but I try to analyze as much as possible through reviewing my own replays and Twitch streams of tournaments, and when I'm on the game I have specific things I'm trying to improve. I expect teammates who are similarly willing to get to the top, but also can break the mood in between tournament rounds and talk about things other than just Splatoon."
In general, It's better to wait to find a team you feel good about, than to join one that has yellow flags. You can also play with the people you meet without being on a team with them, which is generally less of a commitment for both time and the emotional bond. With a little patience and commitment, you're sure to find a team you'll be happy playing with.