Fighting for the Saltspray Splat Zones (14-6, Tri-slosher)

22nd May 2017 – 7.00 pm

Saltspray Rig Splat Zones is often quite a one-sided affair. Whoever gets an early grip on the Zones and gets behind them, the battle is often over. There is a major choke point at the front of the Zones, trying to come in from above is easily covered by anyone behind the choke point, and any splatted inklings of the team in control can just super-jump back to their squidmates.

So although we get to and behind the Splat Zones first, when we lose them to the teal team, I'm almost resigned to banging my squidy head against teal ink for a minute or two. But if that's going to happen, I may as well try to be somewhat cunning and maybe get some splats, so I head the long way around and try to come in from an unexpected direction.

I get a splat, I suppose. And it may actually have helped. A squidmate super-jumps to my position just before I'm splatted, and the splat I get clears the way for him. Of course, my other squidmates must be doing well too, and we stop the teal counter and start our own counter ticking down. Nice! Certainly better than throwing my bucket at a Dual Squelcher, anyway.

Even going the more direct route gets me in trouble, and before you know it the Splat Zones are teal again. But we go back in force, spreading ink around the front, and projecting it as far over the pipes as we can. One brave inkling comes down to meet us, but she's splatted, we capture the Splat Zones, and move in.

Height is an advantage for my Tri-slosher, so I find some, and start looking for inklings. They're behind me, my squidmates engaging them, and I keep the high turf for as long as I can, dropping down only because my Bubbler can be popped. I don't even out-stay my welcome, getting a super-jumper, a straggler, and the Killer Wailer who may have trouble seeing through her own Wail. A quad-splat for me, woomy!

Everything is looking good. The Splat Zones are ours, the score is ticking down, it's time to congratulate the team! But, once more, my 'Nice!' is premature. The Splat Zones turn teal, and getting up on the pipes shows that this probably isn't a quick fix. But it seems that we can recover from this position. I use height to my advantage again, almost forget about the Killer Wail and get lucky, and have a timely charge of my Bubbler, as I remember that inking the Splat Zones is fairly important.

It's also important to keep the teal inklings from getting and staying behind the Splat Zones, and I give chase to a couple who are back there, and the super-jumpers looking to fortify their team's position. A bit of squidding around wastes some of my opponent's ink, and I get a bit of good timing when I force the encounter. A pause suggests she is the last of her team here, so I head back to the Splat Zones, still in our control.

It looks to be just maintenance required around the Splat Zones now, as our subsidiary score clears and we have just 3 points to go. But the teal team pull back a timely recovery, despite our best efforts, and they regain control. But there is almost no time left in the battle, and although we enter extra time, we just need to get some orange ink spread around for the victory.

A bit of height, a good bit of sloshing, and a charged Bubbler to give me more options helps to neutralise the Splat Zones, and keep them that way until extra time ends. Victory for us, and a really good battle on Saltspray Rig for a change!

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