First Rainmaker with an Octobrush (5-11, Octobrush Nouveau)

A losing stream has me plummetting down the A+ Rank. That makes it time to try a new weapon! A brush, I think, and the Octobrush Nouveau looks like a decent option. I'll give it a go.

Of course, I take it out to Sheldon's trial zone first, but even though that lets me see what the brush can do, it doesn't really show me the way it should be used. It takes me a fair amount of time just to get an idea of what I should be doing, and it will take me many more battles before I think I'm doing it.

I know the power of splashing ink, but I need to get the range right. I know the speed and manoeuvrability of running with the brush, and I could both use it that way more, and know when to run and when to squid.

For a first effort, though, I think I do okay. More practice required, definitely, but maybe with that practice I can improve.

That was an excellent move by my squidmate to forge the path and try to get me to the podium by turning in to a Kraken, by the way. It's a shame I didn't quite make it. The triple splat near the end bolsters my figures nicely too.

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Tags: console, kelp dome, octobrush nouveau, rainmaker, splatoon, wii u

Working the Soda Slosher in Rainmaker (10-10, Soda Slosher)

Surprise Rainmaker! I was trying to jump across the grate to continue sloshing, and thought my squidmate picked up the Rainmaker. Nope! Okay, we get a three-point lead, but I don't think it was worth the splat.

I notice a motif in this battle. The other team like to lie in wait and splat me. Or they just notice my ink and don't engage when it's not safe. Either way, I get splatted a lot.

To be fair, I splat the other team an equal amount. That puts the Soda Slosher close to the Tri-slosher in its splatting effectiveness. Mind you, I get an excellent and not at all lucky double-splat with the Rainmaker itself, and a superb Inkzooka splat on a landing super-jumper.

But the Soda Slosher does some excellent work too. I felt like swapping away from it during the evening, but only for some variety, not because it wasn't working, or I wasn't enjoying it. That's good! Despite the loss, I've had a lot of fun tonight.

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Tags: console, flounder heights, rainmaker, soda slosher, splatoon, wii u

Panic Rainmaker (5-9, Soda Slosher)

I usually have a rough idea of what I'm doing in relation to my team and the goal in most battles. This is not one of those battles.

I like to think I am contributing, by inking turf, forging paths, engaging the opposition, but it mostly feels like I am in my own little bubble.

Destroying the Beakon a moment before it is super-jumped to, and not getting the inkling is bad luck. But engaging a Bubbler, surviving, and splatting him was just great!

My survival isn't always so good. I seem to squid out of one engagement only to appear in a second, more surprising engagement.

We take the lead late in the game, when it looked like we didn't have much of a chance. Good stuff! Except we lose that lead seconds later, with seconds left in the battle. What's the opposite of 'woomy'?

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Tags: console, port mackerel, rainmaker, soda slosher, splatoon, wii u

Where were the other team in Rainmaker (3-1, Soda Slosher)

The Soda Slosher is working nicely for me. I am even getting the hang of the Inkzooka. Not that I really need it in this battle.

I take a side route to the Rainmaker, hoping to surprise the opposition, but the surprise is on me. I don't know where they are. I imagine my squidamtes took care of them.

With no opposition in the way, a squidmate rushes the Rainmaker forwards, almost to the podium. She lasts long enough for me to super-jump close, even if she doesn't get to dunk it.

A nifty use of sloshed ink takes out a Beakon and two inklings, and a refill of my tank lets me burst the Rainmaker's shield. I see the opportunity, and go for it, hoping I can jump that green ink on the podium.

Yes I can! Woomy!

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Tags: console, flounder heights, rainmaker, soda slosher, splatoon, wii u

Quick push to dunk the Rainmaker (1-2, Soda Slosher)

Splat Bombs explode sooner than Suction Bombs. That makes a difference in the first few seconds of this Rainmaker battle in Port Mackerel. It doesn't quite stop me getting splatted, though.

The Rainmaker is picked up and dropping immediately, and then left alone, for reasons unknown. I blast a path with the Inkzooka, and see the opportunity to carry the Rainmaker a good distance, so do that.

I get splatted, obviously, but my squidmates are right behind me by that point. They control the turf, burst the Rainmaker, and take it the last few yards, right up to dunk it on the podium. Woomy!

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Tags: console, port mackerel, rainmaker, soda slosher, splatoon, wii u

Splatting around the Rainmaker (7-5, Soda Slosher)

Having used the Tri-slosher for so long, with it's splayed sloshing, I am not quite yet used to the Slosher's more narrow sloshing arc. It's great at inking a path, and covering turf, but I have to be a bit more accurate to get splats. Still, I have used a Splatterscope, I should have some idea how to aim.

More Flounder Heights Rainmaker, which suits me just fine. I notice the E-litre 3K on the other team, and try to keep an eye out for her. But she doesn't sit on the normal perch to start with, and is happy to avoid me when my ink starts sloshing. I don't really make a vendetta of it.

We take an early lead, lose it quite convincingly before we're half-way through the game, and continually try to get it back. The Rainmaker falls in front of me near enough to the podium to be really enticing, but despite my efforts to make sure a path is inked first, I can't quite squid my way to the lead. It was a decent effort.

Still, I didn't quite succeed mostly because the rest of my team were recovering at that point. After I'm splatted, they have recovered, and go in for the dunk. Woomy!

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Tags: console, flounder heights, rainmaker, soda slosher, splatoon, wii u

Hard work Rainmaker (4-8, Soda Slosher)

I've dropped out of S Rank, but the battles don't really seem to get much easier. Well, maybe they do, kinda. They get more to my level, which keeps them challenging without being stressful.

Rainmaker today, with Flounder Heights and Port Mackerel. An excellent combination all around, and I'll stick with the Soda Slosher for now, as I enjoyed that yesterday.

I opt for a slightly different approach to the Rainmaker, hoping to come up from underneath and surprise the opposition. But one of their inklings comes that way too, and in trying to splat him the Rainmaker bursts and splats me. Oh well.

I'm lucky to avoid the Killer Wail that sinks through the floor in front of me, but have less luck in not avoiding picking up the Rainmaker. I don't think I have it even when I get it, which I'll use to explain my lethargic movement.

Rainmaker is a lot of fun, and Flounder Heights an excellent map. I like inking turf to keep or regain our advantage. I like going for splats for support. I like carrying the Rainmaker. It's okay when we lose too, at least when we put up a good battle. And this was a good battle.

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Tags: console, flounder heights, rainmaker, soda slosher, splatoon, wii u

Graceful in defeat in Splat Zones (0-0, Soda Slosher)

One squid goes puff as we enter Ancho-V Games.

A second disappears as the stage pans a second time.

The third decides he doesn't like the odds.

What's a squid to do? Put on a brave face and battle anyway? Or have a small squid party?

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Tags: ancho-v games, console, soda slosher, splat zones, splatoon, wii u

Fighting back in Splat Zones (10-8, Soda Slosher)

The Soda Slosher is a nifty weapon. I need to get used to the Inkzooka, although I do seem to get some easy-mode splats just by firing it, which is fun. It also sloshes ink everywhere, much as it is supposed to, which is good for Splat Zones.

I do miss the Tri-slosher a little, but mostly when it is pitted against me, and definitely when it is pitted against me and pops its Bubbler.

There is the usual kerfuffle for the Splat Zones at the start of the battle, and everything looks about equal overall. But the purple team gets a suction cup in our turf and manages to stay there.

It's a little frustrating that we can't get even our own Splat Zone back, until I realise what's happening. All of the purple team are fighting us for it, as are all of our team. That leaves their Splat Zone uncontested. Fine for them, as it is purple, but completely open for us. We just need to get there, and we can stop their counter.

I sneak around the side and, sure enough, take control of their Splat Zone. Of course, we still need to re-capture our own Splat Zone before we start making a positive move to victory, but at least their counter has been stopped.

Given their mid-battle dominance, the result is not much of a surprise. But I get a good number of splats and, hopefully, made a positive difference to the battle. That'll do me.

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Tags: console, piranha pit, soda slosher, splat zones, splatoon, wii u

Going for the E-litre in Splat Zones (6-8, Soda Slosher)

I'm trying a new bucket, the Soda Slosher, for Splat Zones. The Slosher has worked well for me in Splat Zones before, and I really just want to try a new weapon.

The Splat Bomb sub is familiar enough, but I've never really got to grips with the Inkzooka. I suppose I don't need to use it, but I also suppose I won't get better if I don't at least try.

But before I think about the Inkzooka, there's an E-litre 3K on the other team. She'll no doubt sit on her perch and spread ink and splat squidmates with relative impunity, unless someone causes her to at least move occasionally. I think the Slosher is a good weapon to achieve that.

I don't just go for the E-litre 3K, of course, but I seem to have better luck when I do. Maybe I should have concentrated on the Splat Zones when not forcing the E-litre 3K to hide.

Either way, I think I have a decent battle, at least until the last minute.

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Tags: ancho-v games, console, soda slosher, splat zones, splatoon, wii u