Why Rainmaker Is Uncompetitive And Should Be Removed From Major Tournament Play

[Acid]

Ever since its release back in August, Rainmaker has easily become one of the most controversial and mechanically flawed modes in Splatoon. Now after seeing this thread title, I'm sure the majority of you think the reasoning behind why this thread was made is due to the ramblings of a whiny scrub who sucks at the mode and wants it gone completely. If you are currently under this mindset while reading this I kindly suggest you stop because that is not the case here and this is for the betterment of the competitive community as a whole and not just for one player. Now for those that aren't under this mindset and are open to intelligent discussion please continue to read.

As stated before, Rainmaker mechanically is flawed primarily due to the fact that most maps in the game due to their simplistic designs cannot properly support them in competitive play. Maps such as Blackbelly Skatepark due to their small size make RM almost unplayable as at any given instance a player can just push RM at a very short distance and win almost instantaneously. Other maps such as Saltspray Rig, Walleye Warehouse, Arowana Mall, Moray Towers, Camp Tiggerfish, and various other maps no matter how minuscule or huge the advantage might be run issues of providing areas to camp the RM or put it in unfavorable spots so that the opposing team has a hard time getting to it. Not only that but many maps that have had any exploitable bugs or glitches in the past and even present have made this mode completely broken due to the fact that the player who has the RM is given complete freedom to do what they want with it. This is something I refer to as a controllable objective. Modes such as Splat Zones and Tower Control are what I would call an uncontrollable objective. This is mainly referring to the idea that because they are either stationary (Splat Zones) or binded to a set path (Tower Control) there is very little a player can do to abuse it. Rainmaker's objective is completely abusable and because of the amount of freedom you are given with the Rainmaker being a controllable objective combined with map bugs and exploits it leads to many unfavorable and one sided scenarios that create an uncompetitive and unfair playing environment.

Rainmaker also has the issue of games being decided and won within the first 10-30 seconds of a match. How that can be deemed competitive is a mystery to me. Games can commonly and easily be decided in one of the following ways.

1. Team A pushes objective before Team B. Team A captures objective before Team B can do anything and proceeds to win the game instantaneously.

2. Team A and Team B both on objective. Team A captures objective first and pushes halfway(let's say somewhere between 10-30 points) to then be killed by Team B. Team B captures objective and proceeds to continuously push but gets walled out by Team A until time runs out and Team A wins by default.

3. Team A and Team B both have even instances of pushing objective until one side decides to abuse objective and incorporate broken strats via map exploits to time stall the other team into overtime and winning from there.

Rainmaker's final issue is rewarding only hyper aggressive playstyles with no transitional periods in ones own play. Splat Zones is the perfect example of transitional periods being that it rewards players who know whether to act aggressive/defensive in certain scenarios and when it's proper to do so based on current game states. This coupled in with basic team strats can lead to games that are more skill based and more rewarding to teams that played better. In Rainmaker, it's basically non-existent. What reason does a team have to play defensively if they can easily lose within the first 10-30 seconds of a game via knockout or pushing it out incredibly far to a point where the other team has to struggle to get past that because they decided to not push objective early. If a game can be won that early or even at any point in the game there is no reason not to play hyper aggressive the entire time. Defensive play in this mode isn't even really true defensive play as all you have to do is camp the Rainmaker until time runs out or stick it in unfavorable spots via map exploits so you can time stall the other team from winning.

In conclusion, I hope this has convinced you all that this mode is unsuitable for competitive play and at the very least should be considered being removed. I know many players such as Fiveleafclover although who has left the game has gone on record many times during his stream that Rainmaker is very flawed and wanting it to be removed from competitive play as well. Trying to ban certain maps or waiting for the devs to fix the issues even though they have resolved some just isn't worth it in the long run. Cutting it out completely instead of shoehorning in specific rulesets to keep it in would actually be more ideal in the long run. That isn't to say that smaller tournies can't host Rainmaker Only tournies themselves but I feel for somewhat larger tournies or what the community deems as large tournies nowadays it shouldn't exist.

 

[VideoGameVirtuoso]

Okay, I enjoy how much information and support you place with why Rainmaker should be banned in major tournaments. However I can at least provide some counter arguments:

1. The latest update of Splatoon added a handful of penalty areas that heavily increase the rate of time expended while holding the Rainmaker in it. For example, the cargo area in Saltspray Rig. It is no longer a long term, viable solution to camp with the Rainmaker, and can only be reliably considered with short durations.
2. In regards to small maps, they require a different set of map control and priorities compared to large maps, such as Flounder Heights. It focuses more on neutralizing quickly compared to other maps, where mobility is more difficult. Playstyles that can isolate opponents efficiently are more potent on small maps.
3. For the nature of the Rainmaker's freedom, to counter it, one has to consider all routes that it will take within the timer provided. This is similar to how Capture the Flag works in many games. As for map exploits, DQ teams that abuse glitches or bugs should suffice.
4. Rainmaker games are not decided within the first 10-30 seconds of a match. Also, the outcomes you suggested are not all that occur when playing Rainmaker. Skilled players can adapt to tactics that are being used and still achieve victory. As long as comebacks exist that do not use glitches or exploits, your first and third points are invalid. As for point 2, that means the opponents were not skilled enough to make a comeback, which in a competitive setting, should happen.
5. For your final point about only rewarding hyper aggressive play, that is because the Rainmaker has to ink to get to the location specified. At the same time, hyper aggression is easily countered at competitive play as it leaves everyone vulnerable to smart, defensive play, which is typically a more comfortable, safe role.

In regards to banning it now instead of later when it all these deemed issues are resolved, that hardly sounds ideal as you stated. Quite the opposite... Keeping Rainmaker banned when it becomes viable for competitive play is just incomprehensible reasoning.

 

[Njok]

Now after seeing this thread title, I'm sure the majority of you think the reasoning behind why this thread was made is due to the ramblings of a whiny scrub who sucks at the mode and wants it gone completely. If you are currently under this mindset while reading this I kindly suggest you stop because that is not the case here and this is for the betterment of the competitive community as a whole and not just for one player. Now for those that aren't under this mindset and are open to intelligent discussion please continue to read.

I'm gonna be honest here, i indeed had that mindset when i clicked on the title. And after reading through, you didn't really convince me otherwise, but for the sake of discussion i'll keep an open mind.

As stated before, Rainmaker mechanically is flawed primarily due to the fact that most maps in the game due to their simplistic designs cannot properly support them in competitive play. Maps such as Blackbelly Skatepark due to their small size make RM almost unplayable as at any given instance a player can just push RM at a very short distance and win almost instantaneously.

I doubt anyone would argue that Blackbelly Skatepark is a good map for Rainmaker. Heck, even Nintendo took it out of the rotation.

But how is this an argument that the gamemode is bad?

Other maps such as Saltspray Rig, Walleye Warehouse, Arowana Mall, Moray Towers, Camp Tiggerfish, and various other maps no matter how minuscule or huge the advantage might be run issues of providing areas to camp the RM or put it in unfavorable spots so that the opposing team has a hard time getting to it. Not only that but many maps that have had any exploitable bugs or glitches in the past and even present have made this mode completely broken due to the fact that the player who has the RM is given complete freedom to do what they want with it. This is something I refer to as a controllable objective. Modes such as Splat Zones and Tower Control are what I would call an uncontrollable objective. This is mainly referring to the idea that because they are either stationary (Splat Zones) or binded to a set path (Tower Control) there is very little a player can do to abuse it. Rainmaker's objective is completely abusable and because of the amount of freedom you are given with the Rainmaker being a controllable objective combined with map bugs and exploits it leads to many unfavorable and one sided scenarios that create an uncompetitive and unfair playing environment.

This is a big wall of text in which i see just one argument: you can camp the Rainmaker. And yes, to a certain extent you can. There's a whole lot of adjustments made however, that make sure you can't camp the rainmaker a full 5 minute match. And if you as an opponent aren't able to get to it before they can take it again, that's on you. It's not Rainmaker's fault.

As for glitches and map exploits, which you mention several times during this post, these are very vague terms. Would you care to be more specific? Afaik pretty much all of them got fixed in updates.

Rainmaker also has the issue of games being decided and won within the first 10-30 seconds of a match. How that can be deemed competitive is a mystery to me. Games can commonly and easily be decided in one of the following ways.

1. Team A pushes objective before Team B. Team A captures objective before Team B can do anything and proceeds to win the game instantaneously.

2. Team A and Team B both on objective. Team A captures objective first and pushes halfway(let's say somewhere between 10-30 points) to then be killed by Team B. Team B captures objective and proceeds to continuously push but gets walled out by Team A until time runs out and Team A wins by default.

3. Team A and Team B both have even instances of pushing objective until one side decides to abuse objective and incorporate broken strats via map exploits to time stall the other team into overtime and winning from there.

These are all literally scenarios in which you have failed to stop your opponent or have failed to push. Again, how is this Rainmaker's fault?

Rainmaker's final issue is rewarding only hyper aggressive playstyles with no transitional periods in ones own play. Splat Zones is the perfect example of transitional periods being that it rewards players who know whether to act aggressive/defensive in certain scenarios and when it's proper to do so based on current game states. This coupled in with basic team strats can lead to games that are more skill based and more rewarding to teams that played better. In Rainmaker, it's basically non-existent. What reason does a team have to play defensively if they can easily lose within the first 10-30 seconds of a game via knockout or pushing it out incredibly far to a point where the other team has to struggle to get past that because they decided to not push objective early. If a game can be won that early or even at any point in the game there is no reason not to play hyper aggressive the entire time. Defensive play in this mode isn't even really true defensive play as all you have to do is camp the Rainmaker until time runs out or stick it in unfavorable spots via map exploits so you can time stall the other team from winning.

This sounds to me as an explanation on how Rainmaker is different from the other modes and why you don't like it. I'm sorry, but again i don't see why this is a bad thing and definitely not why it would make the mode uncompetitive.

In conclusion, I hope this has convinced you all that this mode is unsuitable for competitive play and at the very least should be considered being removed.

It really hasn't, i'm sorry.

Also, there's been discussion like this before. The conclusion for the most part:

Rainmaker did nothing wrong.

 

[shiyongyi]

Rainmaker also has the issue of games being decided and won within the first 10-30 seconds of a match. How that can be deemed competitive is a mystery to me. Games can commonly and easily be decided in one of the following ways.

That is hardly ever true. Maps like Triggerfish, Urchin, Walleye, are hard to get a "yolo swag" push off in one go. Those maps tend to have matches that either last the whole game or the enemy gets a lucky wipe and is able to dunk the rainmaker. If both teams are playing well soon as they rollout, they would've taken all possble routes the enemy could take if they could grab the rainmaker first. Especially since usually teams occassionally lose one or two allies due to them trying to wipe each other to grab it.

Not only that but many maps that have had any exploitable bugs or glitches in the past and even present have made this mode completely broken due to the fact that the player who has the RM is given complete freedom to do what they want with it.

But imo, that's what makes rainmaker fun. I've always discussed with other players that SplatZones is you headed to a set place. Tower Control is you following a set path. Rainmaker is you heading to a set place on a variety of paths. It's like an interesting combination of both modes in it's own way. Nintendo is clearly trying to fix these exploits, as we can see with Piranha Pit's release, the "No Rainmaker Zone" where they figured people would try to stall has already been taken care of. There are some that are harder to take care of (putting the rainmaker on the high wall near spawn in Hammerhead) but I'm sure Nintendo is working on it. At least they are paying attention and not just letting it continue on. Also I've never once had any glitch used on me, I think the majority of players are too interested in ya know, actually playing the mode.

Rainmaker's final issue is rewarding only hyper aggressive playstyles with no transitional periods in ones own play. Splat Zones is the perfect example of transitional periods being that it rewards players who know whether to act aggressive/defensive in certain scenarios and when it's proper to do so based on current game states. This coupled in with basic team strats can lead to games that are more skill based and more rewarding to teams that played better. In Rainmaker, it's basically non-existent.

I don't really find any of this true. Rainmaker requires strats, thinking of good weapon comps, just like any other mode per map. In a SRL vs oL scrim, SRL did rainmaker on Port Mackerel with I believe three .52 Gals and a .96 Deco. We were literally walled out. There are teams I've seen whose composition were nothing but weapons with disruptors. Defense can be just as equally as rewarding after a good push in Rainmaker, depending on the situation. You can be just as hype aggressive in Zones. You can push toward the enemy's spawn to lock them out and keep them from getting back into the zone instead of just sitting on it. In TC if you get a decent wipe, I've had team who've completely locked us in our spawn while their teammate rode the tower safely. Rainmaker might feel like it doesn't have as many strats I think, because I feel there's a lot more potential for them that can be "okay maybe this will work."

Rainmaker is really a great mode, especially when you have a team you can communicate with and make coordinated pushes with. Yes, in S(Y)olo Queue and even Duos, it can suck because you can't communicate with your teammates. Tower Control and Splat Zones don't require too much communication to simply play the objective. However since you are guarding a person, and not a tower or zone, I feel rainmaker heavily relies on communication, or rather is made a lot easier with it.

#RainMakerDidNothingWrong

 

[Toufool]

rainmaker did nothing wrong mmh

 

[Silver]

Banning modes is a pretty sick meme and it shouldn't even be discussed anymore

Re-posting this because it still applies

 

[Albatross]

Hey anuskingdom how's it going?

Edit: if you're losing in 10 seconds maybe something else is going on ngl

 

[pixelatedcody]

Rainmaker is good, people are just terrible at the mode.


seriously. I have a blast on certain maps with RM in the mix. sure it has its issues, but instead of us being babies...let's adapt and play the mode?

 

[Agosta44]

Rainmaker is better than Splat Zones IMO.

 

[Fightersword]

Data contradicts claims that RM is less competitive than the other game modes. Results taken from RM games comparing teams of many different skills have shown that there is no difference between the prevalence of upsets or how much good teams dominate when playing RM versus the other modes. For RM to be noncompetitive, it would have to have less room for skill and experience, which would mean more upsets in this game mode. This is not the case. Just because RM rewards a different playstyle compared to SZ or TC does not make the game mode not competitive. A big, fast push that wins the game very quickly is no less skillful a way to win or take a winning advantage than setting up good defenses around the zone/Tower to win by knockout or points. The greater variety of modes in competitive also does more to reward teams that are able to play different playstyles and adapt to other team's playstyles more easily.

Also:

I know many players such as Fiveleafclover although who has left the game has gone on record many times during his stream that Rainmaker is very flawed and wanting it to be removed from competitive play as well.

Appeal to Authority Fallacy. Just because FLC says it doesn't make it more credible. FLC has been wrong or overblown things many times before. This is simply another one of those times.

 

[Airi]

Maps such as Blackbelly Skatepark due to their small size make RM almost unplayable as at any given instance a player can just push RM at a very short distance and win almost instantaneously.

This is true. However, I'm sure that most players already agree that Blackbelly is unfit for Rainmaker. Even Nintendo agrees that Blackbelly is unfit. This is why we don't see Blackbelly in the rotation for Rainmaker any longer. This isn't Rainmaker's fault though. This is the fault of Blackbelly being unfit for Rainmaker. It doesn't mean that Rainmaker is a bad mode entirely. That is an extremely flawed and weak argument to use. It holds no water whatsoever.

Other maps such as Saltspray Rig, Walleye Warehouse, Arowana Mall, Moray Towers, Camp Tiggerfish, and various other maps no matter how minuscule or huge the advantage might be run issues of providing areas to camp the RM or put it in unfavorable spots so that the opposing team has a hard time getting to it.

I'm just going to be honest here... If you're having trouble figuring out how to get to a certain area on the map, this is more of an indicator for your skill level on the map. Every area on every map is accessible to all players. If someone is struggling to figure out how to get to an area, that is their fault. It's not Rainmaker's. You need to learn the layout of the maps better. If you learn the maps, you would know how to get around obstacles and reach every area of the map to retrieve the Rainmaker when needed.

It's true that camping can be an issue in Rainmaker. However, camping can be an issue in every mode... Camping is an issue in every single shooter game. To use this as an argument against Rainmaker is yet another very weak argument. Nintendo addressed the issue of stalling out Rainmaker in the last update when they added prohibited zones. These zones are designed to heavily punish the players who enter them.

Rainmaker also has the issue of games being decided and won within the first 10-30 seconds of a match. How that can be deemed competitive is a mystery to me. Games can commonly and easily be decided in one of the following ways.

1. Team A pushes objective before Team B. Team A captures objective before Team B can do anything and proceeds to win the game instantaneously.

2. Team A and Team B both on objective. Team A captures objective first and pushes halfway(let's say somewhere between 10-30 points) to then be killed by Team B. Team B captures objective and proceeds to continuously push but gets walled out by Team A until time runs out and Team A wins by default.

3. Team A and Team B both have even instances of pushing objective until one side decides to abuse objective and incorporate broken strats via map exploits to time stall the other team into overtime and winning from there.

If you are losing Rainmaker in 30 seconds, you are the one doing something wrong. Rainmaker is not designed to end in 30 seconds. It can, however, end that quickly if the players on the other team simply aren't very good at the game. If you let the Rainmaker holder slip past you and fail to catch them, that is completely on your team and it's not the fault of Rainmaker. At this point, it does sound like you're blaming Rainmaker simply because you may not be the best player at the mode. Instead of finding reasons to blame the mode, look at what you're doing and figure out why you keep losing so quickly. We'll break down your scenarios for fun though.

1. This was pretty much explained up above. If you're losing Rainmaker instantly, it is your fault and you need to readjust how you're playing Rainmaker. If you can't make a comeback in Raimmaker, that is your fault. Not Rainmaker's.

2. This is how Capture the Flag works in most games. Rainmaker is essentially just Splatoon's version of Capture the Flag. You're not supposed to let your opponent easily get the objective. If you're letting them easily get the objective, you're not playing the mode very well. If your team loses the Rainmaker, you need to fight to keep the opposing team away from it until your team can grab it again.

3. This would be a great example if it were an actual problem. But as it's already been mentioned, these do get addressed and fixed. So your example really holds no water.

In Rainmaker, it's basically non-existent. What reason does a team have to play defensively if they can easily lose within the first 10-30 seconds of a game via knockout or pushing it out incredibly far to a point where the other team has to struggle to get past that because they decided to not push objective early.

If no one on your team is playing defensively, this is probably why you're losing games so quickly. Rainmaker teams need both offensive players and defensive players. Once again, you are blaming Rainmaker for the fault of the players who aren't very good at the mode.

Defensive play in this mode isn't even really true defensive play as all you have to do is camp the Rainmaker until time runs out or stick it in unfavorable spots via map exploits so you can time stall the other team from winning.

With all due respect... Have you ever played defensively before? It feels like you don't actually know how to play defensively based upon what your post is saying. I'm the type of player who can go both offensively and defensively depending upon the weapon and situation. When I'm playing defensively in Rainmaker, it can mean a variety of things from protecting the Rainmaker to guiding the Rainmaker down a path to the goal. If you think defense in Rainmaker means camping, you have a lot to learn about the mode.

In conclusion, I hope this has convinced you all that this mode is unsuitable for competitive play and at the very least should be considered being removed.

No. In actuality, all your post did was prove that complaints about Rainmaker are only seeded in one's lack of ability to play the mode. You didn't provide any concrete points against Rainmaker. All you did was offer up complaints about the mode that could be fixed by getting better at the mode.

 

[Jeane JWE]

Rainmaker also has the issue of games being decided and won within the first 10-30 seconds of a match. How that can be deemed competitive is a mystery to me.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/compete
I do not see anything about a time requirement in here, you'll have to point it out to me.
If you lose in 30 seconds, you got stomped. Get over it.

 

[scarth]

LSDJ? BATNAM? HELLO?

 

[Agosta44]

LSDJ? BATNAM? HELLO?

You got played like a fiddle friend.

 

[DekuKitty]

For how much you claim this is unbiased, you can still smell the salt. Rainmaker is more tactical than the other modes, which are more competitive. You need to plan your rainmaker route, how your going to outsmart the opponents. Will you fire ink tornados and take out your enemies, or will you step back and have your team guard you. Which route should you take, ect.
If your loosing in 30 seconds, your not playing right. Rainmaker has a different mindset.

 

[Mateiüsthesquidwarrior]

I don't mean to sound harsh, but at the end of the day, skill beats luck at least, say, 95% of the time (even in rainmaker). Don't get me wrong, I know what you're talking about, it happens often in random lobbies that a whole team can get wiped out right at the start when the rainmaker's shield explodes (or in other similar scenarios), but that's in random lobbies. If you're playing with random people you have no idea what their skills are like, and obviously can't coordinate any sort of strategies.

Your arguments seem to indicate that you haven't ever played with an actual squad, because if you're actually communicating in real time with some teammates and planning some strategies and weapons and whatnot in advance, there should be close to no room for random lucky quad kills or anything like that.

Also, others have mentioned this, but blackberry rainmaker has been out of the rotation for a long time. And other maps have received some tweaks in the most recent patch (though they are still not perfect).

 

[DekuKitty]

blackberry rainmaker

Autocorrect wai.

 

[Tyson TH]

Even Nintendo agrees that Blackbelly is unfit. This is why we don't see Blackbelly in the rotation for Rainmaker any longer.

That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Spoiler

 

[Mateiüsthesquidwarrior]

Autocorrect wai.

Oh my gosh. lol. didn't even notice...

*facepalm emoji*

 

[RocK_M]

That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

Spoiler

They fixed up Blackbelly though and put some barriers on some short cuts so it's not as bad as before