It seems I can barely lose at the moment. That's good for my esteem, not so much for my staying out of S Rank for a bit longer. Still, I had a good run, all the way down to the bottom of A-, in fact.
I have a good run in this battle too, if you count the first thirty seconds as a run. I get a triple-splat to start with, then out-last my luck around the other team's base.
I go back, hoping lightning will strike twice, and indeed it does! But for the purple inklings, who splat me a second time there. I take a slightly different route next time, and once I work out how sloshing ink works, bag me another couple of splats.
Of course I'm going back there again. Getting a splat only to be splatted isn't terrible, particularly if we have control of the Splat Zones. Which I think we do.
Yes, we do. It's a comfortable victory in the end, even if I got carelessly splatted a bit too much. And that bumps me up to S Rank again. Let's see how that goes.
One early splat, almost averted by getting under the Splash Wall, but also cutting me off from an escape route I'd never take, and that's it for my being splatted. That doesn't happen often.
As is usual for me, I tend to ignore the Splat Zones and bit and go searching around the sides and back of the map for excitement. I don't really find any. It looks like most action is around the Splat Zones themselves. Funny that.
The lack of incidental action doesn't stop me looking, but I only really find any in the Splat Zones. That should teach me a lesson, but one I'm slow at learning.
Oops, I'm getting close to S Rank again. I hope it's not as bad as I remember it.
Back with the Tri-slosher for a bit, and although there is no charger on the other team I am still keen to get to the middle of Arowana Mall and see if I can sneak around the back.
Well, I was keen, but I have a change of heart and think a Disruptor over the top would serve the team better. Maybe, if the yellow inklings weren't congregating on the grate, the Dual Squelcher easily able to splay me from the vantage point.
Undeterred, I head back up the middle to sneak down the side, completely ambivalent to the yellow team pushing the tower past the half-way point to the goal. I'm sure my squidmates have it under control. I get a couple of splats, at least, and my squidmates do have the Tower under control. They even take the lead!
I am wary of Beakons, but this one isn't a trap. I ink over the yellow, cross the centre, and go back down the side, turning it purple again. The Bubbler seems like a good idea, but it does give away my position. So does the Echolocator the next time I head back. I'm surprised I'm not splatted sooner.
But the Tower trundles on, all the way to the goal, which I hope is a good indication that my efforts at being a disruption, or at least a distraction, have helped a little. Woomy!
After nearly dropping out of A-, I have a couple of good sessions and rise back in to A, and now A+. That makes me feel a bit better about my gameplay.
I am only doing okay in A+, though, and can't say I'm doing well. I get the feeling that my squidmates are carrying me a little. Still, I do what I can, and my dip in ability is probably more owing to my switch back to the Splatterscope and needing to aim and stay out of trouble.
One of my splats comes from a Splat Bomb, naturally, and the other is a second attempt at a stationary target. Yeah, I really need more practice, and a calmer temperament when playing a charger.
A nice and easy welcome back to A+, and although I stay on a mostly winning streak, no battles are particularly outstanding at the moment.
The Tri-slosher has been working well for me in tonight's Splat Zones. I wondered if I would prefer the Splatterscope for Walleye Warehouse, but decided I could do well with the bucket there, and might prefer it on Flounder Heights. Of course, the Tri-slosher has worked wonderfully on Walleye Warehouse. Now I get to see what I can do with it on the Heights, and with two buckets on the opposite team, no less.
I aim to avoid the Splat Zones again, and try to slide my way over the ledge to come up the opposite wall more quickly, without needing to ink around the side. That almost works, and would have done had I not run in to an inkling. Never mind!
This time I go the longer way around and try my Disruptor. I exercise a bit of caution on approach, but see no ink or inkling where I expect when I round the corner. Ah, but there he is. I can't stop the launch of the Inkstrike, but I can get the aftersplat.
Keeping control of the turf is important, and I set about to help my squidmates with that, and to frustrate an opposite bucket with a well-aimed Disruptor. Another splat has me falling off a wall, which is pretty typical for me, but that just lets me work my way back up in time to splat both opposite buckets at once. Nice!
A good vantage point lets me admire my own shadow and rain ink down from on high, and solid control of the Splat Zones and surrounding turf lets me indulge in a victory dance. Woomy!
I see the Splatling on the other team. Maybe the tactic from the previous battle will work here too. The side route certainly seems to be unfavoured at the moment, so I'm going to give it a try.
I don't see the Splatling, but I move higher on the map to cover my bases. He's not up the top either, and I see an orange inkling tried my route. I wonder what luck he had.
I work my way back and spy the Splatling, dropping down to go for the splat. I get one, and even though it's not the one I want it will do. And we have charge of the Splat Zones.
I lay down some ink and go back up the map, luckily squidding under some sloshed ink to splat the oncoming bucket. My next encounter is not so lucky, being downhill from the Tri-slosher.
Inking the Splat Zones with an active orange Bubbler seems a bit suicidal, so I wait, and squid headfirst in to oncoming ink anyway. I must try better next time.
A bit more pressing, and one last splat, watching the inkling back off from the Inkstrike and closing in afterwards, and the battle is over. A knockout victory to us! Woomy!
I see you, E-litre 3K. Well, I see you at the introductions. But where will you be in a moment? I'll go around the back to find out. I flank down the side, a quite effective route, and manage to go unnoticed. But where is the E-litre?
Okay, I see you. I check that no yellow squids will come my way, then squid higher up the map and around, clearly surprising the charger. Hopefully that will take the immediate pressure off the Splat Zones, and the lead the yellow team have will soon be passed.
I could, of course, drop down and ink the Splat Zones. But I went to the trouble of getting up on this side of the map, I may as well look around a bit more, try my luck a bit. The E-litre 3K will be coming back, of course, and I'd rather that didn't happen.
One more splat of the E-litre and I head towards the Splat Zones. Only for as long as the E-litre's splat cam watches me, and it's back to apply more pressure. But an inkling super-jumps away. That's sensible. I'd better actually go back.
My squidmates are on the ball. The Splat Zones are nice and blue, and they are getting their own fair share of the splats. I ink over some yellow turf, to charge my Bubbler and prevent easy movement for the yellow team, and head back to see what trouble I can get myself in to.
I'm not sure where the inkling thought I was going when he stepped off to launch the Inkstrike. Down, I suppose, not across. And it gives me another shot at the E-litre, which I miss, distracted by the Carbon Roller, who I miss. But I get to ink the Splat Zones a bit.
Back up the top, and assess the situation. Sorry, Splattershot, I wasn't trying to camp there. Besides, I move on straight away, and not just because the Splat Zones need attention. More inking, more splatting, some Disrupting. And now I'm becoming aware that I haven't been splatted yet.
Ah, there we go. I'm splatted. But it gives me the chance to look at our score, and send out a well-timed 'Nice!' for a change. Woomy!
The Blaster has been working for me in Tower Control, and I'm happy to give it another outing. It's the basic Blaster again, as maybe the Killer Wail can come in handy, as well as the Disruptor, if I remember it. I also need to remember not to run straight towards the other inklings.
I quite enjoy Kelp Dome. It is fairly compact, but has several routes to choose from, and each of them has its advantages and disadvantages, and can be dependent on circumstances. I try to make use of them all, if not in this match then in the ones that follow.
I also squid about a bit without a clear idea of what I'm doing, mis-throw Disruptors, and flounder a little. But that's just me settling down. Once settled, I get a double-splat with the Killer Wail, convert that in to a triple-splat, and bag me another one shortly after.
Of course, my 'Nice!' is poorly timed again, but I felt I had to squeeze one in. Thinking it can't be long before we push for the knockout, I go right around the back of everyone. I suppose it works, in a way, but I fail to get either of the two splats available, and the Tower is long gone too.
I try to make amends by, um, getting the splats I missed, maybe? But although that does bag me the splats, the Tower gets pushed even further. At least another Killer Wail gets it back for us. I try to put my defence cap on, but am blindsided by the charger, and the Tower gets even closer to beating our lead
The time is nearly up, and still the Tower moves. I aim to clear the Tower of inklings, but am too far away for my Blaster. At least moving up provides enough threat to pause everything, although I rather think I have my squidmates to thank for actually stopping the Tower's progress.
At the end, I'm not entirely sure how close we were to losing. Can't have been too bad, I suppose.
I do like Mahi-Mahi Resort. Sure, I fall in to the water a lot, but I like the intricacies of it all. I don't enjoy quite as much a Luna Blaster quite so close to me, but I really thought for a second that I had splatted him. I knew otherwise when I refused to move.
Going around the side doesn't quite work the first time, as my appearance is anticipated, but the second time fares better, thanks to squidmates clearing the path. I play around with the Splatling for a bit before moving up, Bubbler ready, only to see the water has taken a victim.
Moving to the Splat Zones has me wreaking revenge on the blaster, and two of us taking care of a Kraken, which also captures the Zones for us. I don't do so well against the Splatling and Brush combined, but at least splat one of them.
I go around the back again, somehow avoiding the Splatling ink and splatting him from a corner, before using my bucket quite effectively to slosh from above whilst waiting for a super-jumper. I even avoid the Splatling behind me, but only for a moment.
A sneaky purple inkling tries to flank us, but I was splatted just in time to do something about it. Then I do it myself, and take care of myself too, stupidly wandering in to an active Killer Wail. What was I thinking?
The last splat doesn't matter too much, though, just making my stats look a bit worse, as the battle ends. Another knockout victory, woomy! I am almost back to a more respectable rank. Let's hope I don't lose this new-found concentration.
Someone will need to take care of that E-litre 3K on the other team. I like to do that sort of thing myself, so ignore the Tower and head around the side to try to sneak up behind the charger. Not even a blaster will slow me down.
It's hard to sneak up on someone when you are subjected to an Echolocator, but it's less of a problem when some nifty squidmate has already splatted your target. That lets me turn around and, well, expect to be the target of a re-spawned E-litre, to be honest.
Yep, there he is. But my squidmates have my back again. Well, they're protecting themselves and the Tower by forcing the E-litre 3K away, but it helps me too. That means I only have myself to blame for the Seeker.
Super-jumping remains dangerous, so I squid my way to the centre of the map, and back along the side route. We lost the Tower in the process, but my position is excellent when we get it back.
I splat the E-litre 3K from behind, my destiny satisfied, and turn back to take out the Beakon. As it turns out, inklings are up there too, and I splat the second, third, and, after he tries to squid away, the fourth, for a neat quad-splat.
My squidmates keep the Tower moving nicely, and apply their own pressure with another Killer Wail. I take the opportunity to move even further up and cause even more disruption. I splat the inklings concentrating on the Tower, and the inklings concentrating on me aren't going for the Tower.
I gladly take one last splat for the team, as the Tower trundles in to its last position. Woomy!
