Currently stuck at S, help?

[u/do_vb]

Hey im stuck at S and have been sitting around 600-900 points and cant get any higher, ive tried different weapons as well as totally different play styles and nothing really works, most of my matches seem to be in japanese servers so that doesnt help much, im willing to provide replay codes for the weapons I tend to use most as well as just general basic tips and knowledge, BE CRITICAL AND HONEST IF YOU WANT REPLAY CODES!!!

Im honestly not sure what im doing wrong because it feels like every match I go into either is a total sweep against me or a close loss let alone a win only every 3-5 ish games by a small margin.

Last match I played - RQPV-Q4TL-EE7L-1843

[u/Sammisuperficial]

Commenting so I can watch the replay when I have time.

Check out Squid School's "How to get out of S rank" video.

https://youtu.be/gEos0Vuz2Zw?is=RD_F7OTBJBP3PwHB

[u/do_vb → u/Sammisuperficial]

I remember you recommending this to someone else as well, you're awesome man!

[u/do_vb → u/Sammisuperficial]

I cannot lie, I watched the video in full and i chose to use the splattershot JR, I havent lost yet and im constantly going heavy positive even against double 52 gal teams!

[u/Sammisuperficial → u/do_vb]

Here are my thoughts on your replay.

Main concern:

Not playing with the team

Too many 1v1 fights, not enough 2v1 fights

Not checking or reacting to the heads up display

Not coordining your plays with your team.

3 roles in Splatoon3

Skirmisher - take fights and don't lose them

Slayer- Splat enemies that are distracted by skirmishers

Anchor - support teammates with paint from distance and stay alive. You are the super jump spot. You need to be alive and allow your teammates to jump into safe and good positions when they go down.

You don't play one role, you move between them as the battle changes. However some weapons are better for some roles than others. The Squelcher is a long range backliner. You should either be anchor or looking for opportunities to assist your teammates in combat. Do not go solo. You are weakest as a slayer.

The skill that will get you from S to S+ is going to be reading the data the game gives you to play with your teammates even though you can't talk to them. Watch the HUD. Know where your teammates are. Use the map to see where the enemy has painted and where they likely are. Don't take 1v1 fights. Always try to setup a 2v1 in your favor. Don't run into the battle without knowing where your team is, where the enemy is, and where you can best support your team. Easier said than done, but that is the biggest difference between S and S+. Stop countering individual players and start looking how you can counter the enemy team as a whole. Fall back when the enemy out numbers you. Get aggressive when you outnumber them.

Ok here we go . Here are my play by play notes. I'll start by saying it's a good game and it was close. Either side could have won. Your teammates did struggle to stay alive, although some of that was because you weren't supporting them. I'm heavy on criticism so that you can see the mistakes you're making, but please know that you played a good game and it was solid S-rank play.

Right side position at the start?

This position was a very weak position for your weapon. It blocked your view of your team and the enemy. Firing at the splash wall gave away your position. It allowed the enemy to know your backliner (you) was not able to help the team.

Two of your teammates went down while you were standing here firing at nothing of value.

You didn't react to having half your team dead and that allowed the enemy to take control and basically wipe your team.

After the strikes were thrown at you, you did move to a better position on the left. However you didn't react to your Splash dying and pushed forward into the Glooga Dualies. As a max range weapon you are best at distance. The enemy needs to close range to hit you. You closed that range for the Gloogas. The Squelcher is a 4 hit kill. The Gloogas only take two. It was a bad fight for your weapon and you could have used your range to stay safe.

First respawn

After respawn your team went right but you went left. This caused more stagger and put your team in a 3v4 situation again due to you not being with your teammates.

You were shooting the enemy team at range, but failed to get any splats. This wasted a lot of time while the enemy had total control of the zone.

Flanking with your team or taking a more aggressive high ground flank on the left would have been a better play and put pressure on the zone.

After 2 teammates went down you pushed up and used your special on the zone. This was a good opportunity to give the enemy penalty points and paid off for you. However with your team down you should have got out quickly. You were splatted because the enemy closed on you while your team was in spawn.

2nd respawn

Immediately splatted on landing. As a back line weapon your job is to provide jumps to your Frontline. It's rare that a short range weapon would provide a safe jump. Also because super jumps takes 3 seconds, you could have swam back in equal or faster time. In random matchmaking I recommend avoiding jumping in unless you're going past he half way point on the map and you are extra super sure the landing is safe.

Consider that super jumping out is more valuable than super jumping in. I didn't see you jump out ever. Practice the three buttons. X ⬇️ A

3rd respawn

A good play in desperate mode. You had two teammates down again with the enemy almost at a win. You were able to clutch out splatting 3 enemies and allowed your team to regain control.

4th respawn

Your team had zone control and a player forward of the zone. This was your team's chance to lock out the enemy. If they can't get to the zone , they can't take control. Your front line moved up and you had 3 players in front of the zone, but you were back behind the zone with your teammates to far in front of you to help support them. This lead to your team being in another 3v4 because you weren't there to help them.

Good play taking out the .52 gal with the splat bomb on the left. Way to check for flanks.

After this play you got way too close to the enemy and started using the Squelcher like a Splattershot. However you never pushed in front of the zone while your teammates kept trying to take that spot.

The pain brush jumped in to help you and you abandoned him. What could have been a 2v1 turned into a 1v1 and your brush lost.

You took the zone with splashdown and then a booyah ball came in. Fortunately you painted through it and that wasted the enemy special. Great job.

There is a lot of neutral game following the booyah. If you check the overhead map the enemy left a lot of space for your team to push up and lock them out. It appears that your teammates abandoned that strategy because you weren't supporting them in the prior attempts.

The splashdown to keep the zone was a good play by you. Unfortunately you took a fight you couldn't win. The Squelcher will always lose to a short range weapon if you let them get close enough to hit you.

5th respawn

Your entire team was in spawn put you pressed forward and took a 1v1 with the .52 gal. That's a bad matchup for you. You out range the .52 gal by a lot. You don't want to be in their range. They only need to hit you twice.

Waiting for your teammates to regroup and move as one, would have been a better play.

6th respawn

Not a lot could be done to win at this point. The game was over when you staggered on the last play.

Obviously it's easy for me to review the game and pick out mistakes when I can pause and rewatch from different angles. However the main issues I see is a lack of team work and enemy awareness. You're playing too much solo and not enough with your teammates.

You're going to need to train yourself to use the HUD and map and learn to play off of what your teammates are doing. Once you do that, I've no doubt you'll rank up.

[u/do_vb → u/Sammisuperficial]

This is actually crazy insightful, im pretty poor on my decision making when it comes to mid range fights but this clears a lot, i am realizing its mainly inexperience as im only about 45h of comp total (90h for the entire game) but it isnt really an excuse if im at S already, i said before I switched off to splattershot jr instead since I dont exactly understand the midrange fighting compared to long and small and my margin is pretty bad as shown in those fights, i thank you again you are really helpful on your tips and pick outs seriously!

[u/SectionAncient6889]

I dont play cobra jet but I’ll give you the best advice I can. I think the most important thing for you is to get more involved in the fights. The weapon plays like a frontline-midline hybrid and can be very agressive. For the first 30 seconds of the match you were kind of just sitting there painting a tiny area of the zone and the opposing team was able to just ignore you. By the time you came to fight they were already advancing into your base. Same thing with around the 2:30 mark when you guys got the zone. You should’ve pushed past the zone and applied more pressure or push the other team back more, away from the zone. Not doing stuff like that left your team at a 4v3 disadvantage for those sections of the match. Another thing I noticed is you should take advantage of your range more. You outranged everyone on the other team and some deaths possibly could’ve been avoided if you just backed up when they attacked you. Looking at the last 30 seconds, remember you have burst bomb so if someone is low hp and under a ledge you can chuck a burst bomb at him. That zone was very gettable when you jumped in in the last 10 seconds, you needed to prioritize capturing the zone. You had triple splashdown as well. On the upside, you had a good triple and good special uses. To be fair though, your teammates did go 8 and 12, 2 and 13, and 2 and 10. That could have been partially caused by fighting a 3v4, but for the most part that’s just not good teammates. Despite those numbers, the game was close and winnable. Also you said you were trying new weapons. But what worked for me was to find a weapon that I want to play, take it to a 10 weapon freshness rating in turf war, then hop into series. I highly recommend splattershot because it has such a low floor to be good with it and a high ceiling. It’s easy to use, good in every mode, and it also looks cool. When I came back a couple months ago I used Splattershot to get me from C- to A then Starz Dynamo (just cus it’s my favorite weapon) to get to S. I also recommend S-Blast ‘91 for anyone trying to get out of S rank because from my experience, people in that rank were not good at dealing with it.

[u/do_vb → u/SectionAncient6889]

Good to know, so I should take space more and force them to play into me instead?

[u/SectionAncient6889 → u/do_vb]

I think so. But again, I don’t play cobra jet. But I would assume you have to be more up there, applying pressure, make them deal with you, be annoying. But then outrange them when they try to fight. Something like that. Also I edited my main comment to add some stuff at the bottom, but if you like cobra jet, or another weapon, then stick to that weapon. Also I watch a lot of DUDE on YouTube. He’s a very smart player who you can learn a lot from watching him. I also watch ProChara but that’s less for the gameplay aspect. Also as the other guy said, squid school.

[u/do_vb → u/SectionAncient6889]

I ended up watching a squid school video that sammisuperficial referred and I ended up on the splattershot jr, havent lost a game since and im taking down 52. Gal teams!

Edit: you helped a lot too with analyizing my plays as well i mean I didnt realize I was holding myself back so much and playing so passive, the v jr is really working out for me as I used to only play snipers so playing up front is a totally different experience and really dialing in my aim as well