Tournament Ruleset Ideas

[swifT]

My personal idea for the competitive ruleset of Splatoon is as followed. (Keeping in mind it is based off the current state of the game)

For Turf War it would be the following:

• All 6 stages legal(counting the dlc stage to be released tonight)
• 4 versus 4 format
• 2 Bans per team alternating until the last 2 stages are left Alternating as follows -> Team 1 Ban, Team 2 Ban, Team 1 Ban, Team 2 Ban, Team 1 Pick. After the first game the loser would then proceed to have the pick for next game and they would also have first ban.
• All weapons and gear are available

Heres where it gets tricky. Because of the short length of Splatoon matches I feel that it deserves longer sets. I feel that simply having a 2/3 for a game thats so short wont do the game justice. Instead of sets of that size I feel that a set of 4/7 would be optimal for all game modes.

As for Splat Zones I have not played it as of yet, but will come up with an idea for a rule set after having played a few matches. ATM I feel that it could be run similar to Call of Dutys Headquarters tournament format.

 

[tokyodown]

I'm going to say this once, stop comparing it to smash because it doesn't apply. Look at other shooters. I'm thinking turf war is the best pick for competitive play (haven't played a ton of splat zone) because the games are so quick and the maps and weapons are perfectly balanced for this game type specifically.

I see best of 3/5 for sets, and quite possibly 4/7 with the three minute games.

 

[Ultramus]

I definitely see turf war as a viable competitive choice, after all it is really the iconic game mode. I would think in a given set, both could be used, ie: map pick X turf war map pick Y splatzone, something like that. Number of matches in a set should really be determined by number of teams, 4/7 with something like 16 teams would be fairly significant. Whereas with 8 teams it wouldn't be so bad.

 

[tokyodown]

When it comes down to it, splat zone is king of the hill. Turf war is very unique and requires much more strategy. I don't understand why turf war isn't a ranked game mode.

 

[Vexen]

My personal idea for the competitive ruleset of Splatoon is as followed. (Keeping in mind it is based off the current state of the game)

For Turf War it would be the following:

• All 6 stages legal(counting the dlc stage to be released tonight)
• 4 versus 4 format
• 2 Bans per team alternating until the last 2 stages are left Alternating as follows -> Team 1 Ban, Team 2 Ban, Team 1 Ban, Team 2 Ban, Team 1 Pick. After the first game the loser would then proceed to have the pick for next game and they would also have first ban.
• All weapons and gear are available

Heres where it gets tricky. Because of the short length of Splatoon matches I feel that it deserves longer sets. I feel that simply having a 2/3 for a game thats so short wont do the game justice. Instead I'd encourage for the sets to be closer to the length of Counter Strike. CS:GO is played in a Best of 30 format and those rounds can be longer then Splatoon. I feel that Splatoon should be played in a similar format. Not necessarily best of 30 but certainly more then best of 3 or best of 5. The grand finals for tournaments would also be the same not changing.

As for Splat Zones I have not played it as of yet, but will come up with an idea for a rule set after having played a few matches. ATM I feel that it could be run similar to Call of Dutys Headquarters tournament format.

If we compare just turfwar with competitive CS:GO, turf war lasts longer than cs:go 10/10 times. CS:GO lasts a maximum of two minutes and 49 seconds. That is the terrorist team planting the bomb at the last second and counter terrorists defusing it at the last second.Turfwar is 3 minutes and splatzone is 5 minutes. I think a best of 7 for everything up to the semis would be fine and then semis through championship could be best of 9 or more

 

[swifT]

If we compare just turfwar with competitive CS:GO, turf war lasts longer than cs:go 10/10 times. CS:GO lasts a maximum of two minutes and 49 seconds. That is the terrorist team planting the bomb at the last second and counter terrorists defusing it at the last second.Turfwar is 3 minutes and splatzone is 5 minutes. I think a best of 7 for everything up to the semis would be fine and then semis through championship could be best of 9 or more

Are they actually that short? They seem so long to me for some reason. My apologies for miss information. Either way I do agree that best of 7 is the best option after playing more and looking up other rule sets to compare to.

 

[FunkyLobster]

When it comes down to it, splat zone is king of the hill. Turf war is very unique and requires much more strategy. I don't understand why turf war isn't a ranked game mode.

how's it require more strategy than splat zones?

i think turf war is still a valid choice for competitive groups, but don't dismiss splat zones as being an inferior choice. since it funnels players to one objective area that they have to reclaim, there's a lot of depth in working around that. for example, on saltspray when people are claiming the zone, you can run charger on the pipe platforms above it and secure frags for your team, or you can run around to their spawn area and frag them before they come out or even camp on their sniper spots, keeping the zone safe for your team.

that's just the one map i got to play it on and it's really fun and challenging to get creative on splat zones. will it be the best choice for competitive games? we'll see... i personally think tower control might be more fun and deep since that's basically symmetrical payload and you have to design your small team of just 4 players behind that, where as in splat zones you can pretty much run whatever (hyperbole, of course,) and still have a viable team composition. but how will splat zones be inferior to turf war? can you enlighten me?

 

[Ultramus]

My current issue with splat zone after playing all the way to B- in one sitting, is that comebacks are either very hard to come by, or their comeback mechanic ends up screwing you up. I'd like to see the time extended significantly, as it stands, by the time you get your team back together after losing the point in the beginning, the game is already over. Add to that the fact that an Inkstrike can almost instantly change who has zone control. Inkstrike is definitely overpowered right now in ranked. I'd also either like to see more than 1 point or the point move around a bit.

 

[Citrus]

My current issue with splat zone after playing all the way to B- in one sitting, is that comebacks are either very hard to come by, or their comeback mechanic ends up screwing you up. I'd like to see the time extended significantly, as it stands, by the time you get your team back together after losing the point in the beginning, the game is already over. Add to that the fact that an Inkstrike can almost instantly change who has zone control. Inkstrike is definitely overpowered right now in ranked. I'd also either like to see more than 1 point or the point move around a bit.

Blackbelly splat zones has 2 zones

 

[JJ the Splattershotter]

I'm uncertain if Turf War is a good mode to use for competitive to begin with. It's not really a balanced mode; one team can dominate the entire match up until the last 30 seconds, only for the other team to catch the most ridiculous of lucky breaks and make a comeback. It also doesn't really focus much on strategy, as it's all about inking the turf, and as such, kills aren't nearly as important as they should be -- not that they don't matter, they just lack the impact one would expect them to.

If Turf War is to be used, I think it should be to count up the collective K/D ratio at the end in a best 2 out of 3, that way it's much more strategic and the kills will actually have a proper weight.

 

[swifT]

I'm uncertain if Turf War is a good mode to use for competitive to begin with. It's not really a balanced mode; one team can dominate the entire match up until the last 30 seconds, only for the other team to catch the most ridiculous of lucky breaks and make a comeback. It also doesn't really focus much on strategy, as it's all about inking the turf, and as such, kills aren't nearly as important as they should be -- not that they don't matter, they just lack the impact one would expect them to.

If Turf War is to be used, I think it should be to count up the collective K/D ratio at the end in a best 2 out of 3, that way it's much more strategic and the kills will actually have a proper weight.

I'm uncertain if this is the correct mentality. Currently I feel that either game mode is viable in terms of competitiveness. You say its not balanced but when we look at a game mode like Splat Zones it can easily be over in an instant. All of my games thus far as I attempt to grind to B- before heading to sleep. All of the games I've played in this mode have been completely one sided ending as soon as the first team captures the point. At least in Turf War you have to play out the entire 3 minutes. In Splat Zone that is not the case.

Of course this is not to say Splat Zone isn't a good mode for competitive play but when we look at the grand scheme of things. Organized party play will bring an entirely new level to the game, and as it is now. It lacks that party up feature that its so greatly needing. I feel like once that happens we will know for sure which game mode is truly the better for competitive.

 

[Ultramus]

I'm uncertain if Turf War is a good mode to use for competitive to begin with. It's not really a balanced mode; one team can dominate the entire match up until the last 30 seconds, only for the other team to catch the most ridiculous of lucky breaks and make a comeback. It also doesn't really focus much on strategy, as it's all about inking the turf, and as such, kills aren't nearly as important as they should be -- not that they don't matter, they just lack the impact one would expect them to.

If Turf War is to be used, I think it should be to count up the collective K/D ratio at the end in a best 2 out of 3, that way it's much more strategic and the kills will actually have a proper weight.

I think you are confusing the term balance with something else. The whole glory and interesting factor in Splatoon is that in Turf War, kills aren't a primary objective. I'm completely fine with that, there is more nuance in inking territory, maintaining a lead or making a comeback, then there is in just holding a positive K/D. Kill counts should never be considered when they aren't part of the game mode to begin with. I am 100% on board with Turf War being the predominant tournament game mode in fact, and in it's current state. Modifications can be made to allow or disallow particular weapons/loadouts to keep things interesting on that front, but I wouldn't ever consider adding any more weight to kills. They already have a significant enough impact in Turf War. If a team wins a match being outkilled significantly, than they deserved that win.

 

[Jiggly]

So it seems everyone wants a different meta for different modes. Why not make all the modes one meta? I'm guessing for private rooms, the owner is going to choose the game mode. Why not strike game modes? This can lead to certain teams still doing well in a tournament, even if they are bad at turf wars. I feel like if we want a truley balanced metagame, we need to be accepting of all modes in one meta.

 

[Whisp3r]

I'm uncertain if Turf War is a good mode to use for competitive to begin with. It's not really a balanced mode; one team can dominate the entire match up until the last 30 seconds, only for the other team to catch the most ridiculous of lucky breaks and make a comeback. It also doesn't really focus much on strategy, as it's all about inking the turf, and as such, kills aren't nearly as important as they should be -- not that they don't matter, they just lack the impact one would expect them to.

If Turf War is to be used, I think it should be to count up the collective K/D ratio at the end in a best 2 out of 3, that way it's much more strategic and the kills will actually have a proper weight.

I disagree, I would hate to see turf war turned into a team death match. One of the big appeals of splatoon is that it's not focussed on kills. I think that kills should remain a secondary objective, and that making k/d ratio the deciding factor would actually reduce the strategy of turf war, as it would remove the map control aspects of the game, make the game too focussed on individual skill, centre around specific weapons, increase camping as a viable strategy and it would pretty much render the roller class useless. If you look at pretty much every competitive shooter (that I can think of) none of them use death match as one of their game modes (CS:GO, CoD, Halo)
Again I don't see why we shouldn't use all the game modes in one series if some people feel that one is better than the other then we can put more emphasis on that game mode. We could use a set order for gamemodes like:
turf war - splat zones - tower control - turf war - splat zones
or
splat zones - tower control - turf war - random - random (random so no emphasis is placed on any game modes)

 

[JJ the Splattershotter]

I disagree, I would hate to see turf war turned into a team death match. One of the big appeals of splatoon is that it's not focussed on kills. I think that kills should remain a secondary objective, and that making k/d ratio the deciding factor would actually reduce the strategy of turf war, as it would remove the map control aspects of the game, make the game too focussed on individual skill, centre around specific weapons, increase camping as a viable strategy and it would pretty much render the roller class useless. If you look at pretty much every competitive shooter (that I can think of) none of them use death match as one of their game modes (CS:GO, CoD, Halo)
Again I don't see why we shouldn't use all the game modes in one series if some people feel that one is better than the other then we can put more emphasis on that game mode. We could use a set order for gamemodes like:
turf war - splat zones - tower control - turf war - splat zones
or
splat zones - tower control - turf war - random - random (random so no emphasis is placed on any game modes)

Well-said, I must say!

 

[swifT]

Looking through all this discussion on the separate gamemodes, and which is better. I think its more important that we include both. Both gamemodes are viable for competitive play in their own right, and the fact is both suffer from the same problems currently due to the lack of a party system and will not really flourish until we have been given that.

I feel that we can take a page from CoD's book and play with all the competitively viable gamemodes if people favor that. Many CoD tournaments follow a specific order where they go through each gamemode or alternate. And whoever wins out of the best of 5 is the victor. The Splatoon community could do something similiar with our own tournament ruleset and consider switching between gamemodes each round.

Therefore as mentioned by Whisp3r it would be something like this. Turf War, Splat Zones, Turf War, Splatzones, Turf War, Splat Zones, Turf War.

I also personally favor giving teams the ability to pick the game mode played on each map. As I mentioned before in my previous post I feel that the pick ban order for stages would operate like this. Team 1 Ban, Team 2 Ban, Team 1 Ban, Team 2 Ban, Team 1 Pick.

Now if we include gamemode selection we could see it two different ways after the Team 1 Pick. Either Team 1 also picks the gamemode or Team 2 picks the gamemode. Personally I favor the idea that The team who has map pick should also have gamemode pick this would also give the losing team an opportunity to identi, but I also feel that tournaments do not need to include both gamemodes and could easily be separate events if need be.

 

[Chris]

So many people are trying to play Splatoon like it's Smash. If anything it should be played more like Mario Kart with 12 races and points added up. I would be happy to see Turf War mode where instead of Bo3 or Bo5 or whatever we just add the percentages together after x amount of matches and the team with most % overall wins. But that might just be me.

Also inkstrike is not even good in Turf War, if anything we should ban 4 bubbles cause that thing is ridiculous

 

[Ultramus]

Splatoon has the most elements in common with MOBAs, and similarly structuring tournaments around that is in my opinion the correct way to go about it. Specifically Heroes of the Storm is based on level and map objectives more than just kills, a somewhat analogue to splatoon. I'm still somewhat on board with either treating loadouts like champions and having a draft with or without bans so that we always see different weapons and loadouts and compositions every match, and it would also limit teams stacking one or another super. I feel like even without a draft, restricting duplicate loadouts on the same team seems prudent, just to prevent the aforementioned 4 Jr. setup.

 

[AB80]

So many people are trying to play Splatoon like it's Smash. If anything it should be played more like Mario Kart with 12 races and points added up. I would be happy to see Turf War mode where instead of Bo3 or Bo5 or whatever we just add the percentages together after x amount of matches and the team with most % overall wins. But that might just be me.

Also inkstrike is not even good in Turf War, if anything we should ban 4 bubbles cause that thing is ridiculous

This.
THIS is the answer.

I agree people are too stuck on smash rulesets to open the box it seems like.

 

[swifT]

So many people are trying to play Splatoon like it's Smash. If anything it should be played more like Mario Kart with 12 races and points added up. I would be happy to see Turf War mode where instead of Bo3 or Bo5 or whatever we just add the percentages together after x amount of matches and the team with most % overall wins. But that might just be me.

Also inkstrike is not even good in Turf War, if anything we should ban 4 bubbles cause that thing is ridiculous

Wouldn't adding up the amount of over all percent still lead to the victor being whoever won the best of x regardless? Correct me if I'm wrong, but I dont believe it would change much.

Also everyone is hung up on the idea that people are trying to treat Splatoon like Smash. I see nothing wrong with comparing rulesets as the community should look at all examples and try and craft their own. Personally I have avoided comparing it to smash and have been looking more at other competitive shooters. Looking through most of the comments only a few have even been vaguely smash esc, and if having a stage pick and ban phase is smash related then I'd like to point out all the other games that include a pick and ban phase for stages.

Also why focus on banning that? If a team chooses to use 4 bubblers that means they are sacrificing something in return be it the strength of their gun or another more powerful ability. In an organized environment teams will work at ways to defeat a strat. It is also generally easy to outplay people who think they can run in with the bubblers safe protection IN MY OWN experiences and feel once people excel more at the game more and more people will find ways as well.