How to Get Out of S Rank in Splatoon 2 - Bravous Splat Strats 

You also didn't credit Lily. That's their clip at 19:52. For anyone unfamiliar, that's SplatoonLily on Twitch, Twitter etc. www.twitch.tv/splatoonlily

@@airsignx The clip appears first at 16:33 and it's credited there

@@SquidSchool gotcha, it kinda blends in at first. my bad

Agree. I don't have the same time to play as when 2 came out. So uh... I keep ranking up and then bootedback down to S or S+

As the videos have gone on, I've noticed that sometimes I'll focus on aspects of the game that I'm working on, so even though it's all based on what I'm seeing other players doing wrong, I'm more likely to notice things they're doing wrong that I'm also looking for in my own play. So maybe there's something to that.

How does one do mind games as a backliner? Backliners seems to have a difficult tine trying to predict what opponents are doing since (as a charger player myself) they often have no ability to deal with short range/aggressive attacks.

@@kristopherhayes486 I don't often use backline weapons, so I couldn't tell you exactly what their process is like. But as a slayer, it seems to me that it usually comes down to who predicts whose movements better. That just comes with time.

@@kristopherhayes486often in games i try to recognize popular routes that frontliners use to attack backliners. having height is great of course, but having minimal routes to you is very good! if youre on a team, your teammates should watch flanks to you for you so you can focus on kills. on solo queue it is harder

What a wholesome comment from dio himself

Thank you, happy you got something out of it!

@@SquidSchool kinda wishing there was something like this for competitive pokemon too.

Thank you! Glad you found it helpful!

Glad we could help :)

There are certainly a lot of far stronger players than me, but I'm happy that I can be helpful with the knowledge I do have :) -Gem

Awesome job, glad we could help!

It's a really powerful concept with way more applications than just Splatoon, or even just video games.

Congrats!

Glad we could clarify! Gear is highly highly weapon-specific, to the point that the same main weapons with a different kit will still use different gear. I recommend that you use the web site sendou.ink as a resource for figuring out gear builds; builds made by top 500 players (they'll have a little orange crown icon next to their names) are going to be pretty reliable as long as you make an effort to understand why they built them that way and play the weapon to take advantage of it. If you ever need help figuring out why a weapon might be built the way it is, the weapon-specific channels of the Inkademy Discord server (discord.gg/w7f5rtS) have a bunch of nice nerds who will chat your ear off about it if you ask a good, respectful question. My understanding of tetra dualies is that they either run quick respawn and essentially feed to go for trades and distract the enemy team during a push (using quick respawn to get back in as fast as possible and do it all over again) or they run enough main power up to get potential 3-shot splats (and probably still feed a lot). It's the closest to the old Splatoon 1 Quick respawn Quick super jump meta that we have left.

For tetra I would recommend a lot of ink res tho if u really want to 3 shot u need 3 mains 6 subs of mpu

Nice!

Thank you so much!

Look at you, being an overachiever and reading ahead, haha! Thank you!

This one might have featured you more than any of the other videos so far haha, lots of uses for hydra clips here

@@SquidSchool I mean hey, it’s helping people learn right? Lol Glad they’re put to good use. Might possibly be an inspiration to try the weapon out too. 🤔

Came up with that one back in the B Rank video and I catch myself using the term as if it's just common knowledge because it's so useful

Definitely true. I've always said that X rank is a matter of time and effort, not a matter of natural talent or something. I believe everyone can get there with the right mindset.

@@SquidSchool 100% agree!

how do i get out of s plus 0?

man ive been playing this game for the same time and im ranked S for ever rank 😭

no u

ANOTHER CONVERT TO MOTION, PRAISE THE SQUID GODS Resetting the rainmaker is definitely a good tactic sometimes! There are 2 ways to reset the rainmaker which are done for different reasons. 1. Pop the shield and then let the rainmaker sit without picking it up until it respawns in mid 2. Pick up the rainmaker and jump off the map with it so it respawns in mid 1 is for when you've stopped a push that got pretty far and you know your base is cleared out. It's better than picking it up because by the time you get into mid where it respawns, the enemy will have respawned and if you pick it up, you have to play the neutral game in mid with the rainmaker instead of your chosen weapon and your team has one less special you can use to win the fight. 2 is for when you get an opportunity to grab the rainmaker while the enemy team is pushing, has an advantage, and would probably score a lot if they picked it up. This way, instead of trying to run the rainmaker out of your base manually and risking getting splatted and letting them use the rainmaker pop as a bomb to push your team back, now someone on their team has to run all the way back to mid, pop the shield, and restart the push, hopefully giving you and your teammates time to respawn and stabilize a little.

Thanks! That's about what I'd figured out, but I saw a lot of S+ players reset it out of desperation if it was in our back. As my room power has increased, I've seen a lot better decisions around when to pop the rainmaker shield and when to reset.

@@pianopast4074 Yeah, people make a lot of reflexive thoughtless decisions when it comes to picking up the rainmaker and really any of the objectives; it gets a lot better the higher you rank up

That's a really interesting question and I'm mad at RU-vid for not notifying me that you asked it sooner lol I would think of my execution on the engagement as a reflex that's learned through my conscious thoughts about the game and reinforced by getting splatted when I don't do it. Dodging perpendicular to the jet squelcher's line of fire (behind cover is a bonus) is pretty automatic, and dodging past their line of fire while getting my aim on is pretty automatic. The engagement with the tri-slosher is once again just dodging perpendicular to their shots, getting my aim on, and shooting, which is pretty reflexive at this point. My conscious thinking was all in setting up the engagement. I'm there because I'm positioning to try and clear opponents away from the moving tower, which is why I'm throwing the bomb to displace the jet. I recognize that they made a mistake pushing into me based on my understanding of zoning which I go into detail about in the A rank video (it becomes second nature, like knowing the radius around a bomb explosion and reflexing dodging out of it). There's also some thought involved in getting close enough to them while not giving them an opening to shoot me and still having enough ink to take the fight. Given the choice, I would not have wanted to be anywhere near the tri-slosher during the engagement with the jet, as that puts me in a 1v2, and, as is the case in almost every 1v2, the only way I win is if they don't return fire or miss their shots. If I had known they were nearby, I would have ignored the jet, moved toward mid and put the whole obstacle between me and the jet so I could turn my full attention to the tri-slosher, similar to how I do here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-scF3metX6fo.html

Going back and forth between an old rank and a new rank on your way in is pretty normal! If you keep at it, it can be a good way to learn what the higher rank players are doing better than the lower rank players. If you're being thrown off by other players' movement in particular, this video might have some useful information that'll get you moving like they do ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BRjN1rvYyBg.html

It's possible; there's a droplet of enemy ink that falls and I'm not sure where it's coming from. Definitely didn't see it in the moment, though!

That was a fun stream, wish I'd been able to woomy with them more often.

Really happy you find it helpful! S rank is only one step away from A rank. There's going to be a lot of overlap. And really, all of these videos have advice that can help at any level. I still make mistakes I talk about in the C rank video sometimes.

Highly recommend the FLC fundamentals videos highlighted on his Twitch channel. Anywhere he's talking about the areas of the map that you want to control, that will tell you where you need to be positioning, because there are only so many places you can stand where your weapon will reach those areas. Checking your map before engaging is also crucial to a fluid understanding of positioning, because it will tell you where you and your teammates are relative to the opponents so you know where you're strong and where you're not. One last thing is that I'll probably be discussing positioning at considerable length onstream next week, the 21st. You can either catch it live, starts at 2pm PT/5pm ET, or watch the stream VOD from the Twitch channel or the "Bravous VODs" RU-vid channel.

@@SquidSchool noted! and i'll definitely be there! if you see a guy named "shieldshredder" asking a ton of questions in chat, that's me lol

@@shieldsurf We love question-askers in this Twitch chat

That's a point that I do make in that section of the video. They gave up their range advantage by rushing me, and that's the tactical error they made that let me beat them. Apologies if that aspect of the analysis isn't clear

I recommend playing your best and not worrying about maintaining your rank. If you start to get upset, stop playing because you'll play worse and just practice bad habits. If you play with a healthy learning-focused mindset, you'll improve the more you play even if there are minor setbacks sometimes.

All of those are viable options; you don't have to branch out unless you think you'd play better with it or you think there's something useful to be learned from it.

I do think part of why they missed was just that they didn't expect me to move and weren't prepared for it when it happened, but yeah, it's important to remember that not everyone is playing their best 100% of the time and not to criticize someone too harshly for one mistake.

I guess if you're going to play on sticks, that's not the worst weapon to do it with. Definitely didn't work out for them here though

@@SquidSchool one more reason to play motion, faster movement for more splats

What rank are you in

Thank you! Feel free to share it around if you think it would be helpful to someone!

@@SquidSchool Gotchu, my peeps from a discord server are around S+ but I still think it'll work, cause some of the time they start blaming their teammates and I've versed them and beat them an I just want to show them what they're doing wrong or missing. Can't always blame the team.

@@aresascension121 I agree that it's way easier psychologically to blame something on teammates than admit that you might be doing something wrong. Unfortunately, it also makes people miss their own mistakes and, if they get especially upset, play worse altogether. Everyone struggles with this at least a little bit, but pointing out specific mistakes someone's making in a friendly, helpful way can help them see what's happening sometimes.

@@SquidSchool Exactly 👏

Thanks! A lot of the advice is really useful in any rank, or even a lot of different games, but I do focus on the biggest mistakes that are being made specifically in that rank (I've got a spreadsheet! :> )

You're right that the bamboo can't paint for itself quite as speedily as a shooter weapon can. It's a little more reliant on being able to keep its space with its longer range, because once you commit to shooting, you've got to either hit your shots or just abandon the fight completely and get behind cover. It's harder to scramble for position and re-engage like a Splash player might be able to do. That said, you can still walk a little while you're charging and you can also make jump shots, so in a fight you're committed to you're not completely stuck. I see a lot of bamboos manage to kite people back with jump shots or swimming a little after firing because they're usually far back enough that they have paint to work with and aren't getting their feet painted by enemy fire. The missiles bamboo can also just drop a curling bomb and run away with that. The fast charge time means you're in better shape than any other charger when someone closes distance with you, but in general you really want to keep your opponents right at the edge of your range and hit your shots so you never have to worry about getting closed on. It's an aim-intensive weapon in that respect, but its perfect accuracy (even when jumping! I wish my ttek had that) fast charge time and fast time to splat make it something of a brick wall for someone to try and push without stealth. As long as you know where an enemy backliner is, you can take positions where you'll be able to support your teammates and stop flanks, and very few weapons in the game are going to be able to rush you down or force you to dodge around like a frontliner has to.

Definitely need to learn motion controls to have any chance at getting better, I was in the same situation until 3 came out but motion just feels so much better

@@apersonwhomayormaynotexist9868 thanks for the advice. I've stuck to sticks only, playing handheld with skull and co grip and thumb raisers. Over a month ago I reached s+ playing splat zones. Main thing I learned was to stay alive and not make it a rush fight. I play like everyone has faster aim than me so I became harder to hit. Staying alive gave me more chances to attack I stead of risking everything all at once.

The answer to that question depends on a lot of different things. Some weapons, like blasters, should never jump and shoot, because with most weapons, jumping makes your aim RNG worse, and blasters can't afford a shot going sideways with how slow their fire rate is. The Dualie Squelchers on the other hand don't have aim RNG at all if they use jump tech (I made a video about this). Rollers need to jump swing to get vertical flicks, and even with horizontal flicks, the slower rollers should always jump in some direction while swinging so they're not standing still the whole time. Being airborne in Splatoon is usually a disadvantage, because you don't have the same amount of maneuverability in the air as you do on the ground. Strong chargers love inkjets and splashdowns because they're easier to shoot than grounded opponents. You don't want all of your combat movement to just be jumping like you might in other shooters. If you end up deciding that you need to stop fighting and get away partway through the jump, you're out of luck because you still have to make it back to the ground before you can start swimming toward cover. But jumping can throw someone's aim off worse than strafing, because now they can't just aim in one dimension. It's easier to track someone if they're just moving left and right. At a high level, what I've been taught is that you jump in a 1v1 if you're sure that you'll be able to get the splat by the time you hit the ground, because by that time they'll have their aim back on and be hitting you. With shooters, jumping is high risk high reward, while swim-strafing is low risk medium reward.

@@SquidSchool thanks for the reply! Will def take this into consideration and try to stop depending on it so much.

Dynamo is a weapon that doesn't fit super cleanly into the main archetypes. It has to play relatively far back and use its range against a lot of weapons, but it's relatively short-ranged compared to something like a charger, so it can't play quite the same positions a true anchor plays; it'll just be outcompeted by something taking a position further back. Sometimes the right call is for the dynamo to frontline because it has a ledge it can sit under and lock down everything above it. Sometimes it's a wall protecting the rest of the teams from enemy frontliners, which it usually has pretty good matchups against, playing with proper positioning. But always remember that every weapon ends up playing every role to some extent, and what really makes good decision-making is knowing which of those roles to be playing moment to moment, map/mode to map/mode, not in the abstract, general case.

I never played splat1 so I was happy I went looking for its music for these videos. The soundtrack slaps

Play pretty passively and throw a lot of torpedoes at first to collect information and farm for armor. Pop the armor and then move to support whatever fights your teammates take with it. Don't dive in too far because your main weapon is pretty weak in a 1v1, try to play around teammates and distract so they can get splats with their faster DPS

This definitely isn't a game where you have to specialize as just one weapon. Having a couple choices you're strong with that you can choose based on the situation is great, especially in a team context, but also just in solo. Most of the time people stick to similar weapon archetypes or roles so they don't have to learn a new weapon completely from scratch, but kunder and zap are great choices since they're both paint support weapons that farm armor.

Almost anywhere other than where they went

I do believe it's possible to carry hard enough to get out. I'd be happy to run a VOD review for you on Squid School if you'd like another perspective on how your games are going! Drop into the Bravous Discord and DM me about it

Anyone can get out of X rank! I believe in you!

It isnt bottom teir its actually high tier and since you think that you are probably low rank

Nothing wrong with having a lot of hours in a video game haha, or did you mean something else?

@@SquidSchool You’re description of an S rank player toying with the idea of playing competitively just felt very apt to me :) (though I do have a considerable amount of time in the game) You’re videos have really helped, too!

That video is still being made! Remember that most of the tips in any of these videos apply in every rank; X rank players still have walk and shoot syndrome sometimes

In case you missed it, the S+ video is out now!

We do have a video about every rank, so if you want B rank-specific advice, that would be the place you'd find it. If you play thoughtfully and give it some time and practice, you can definitely make it out. I have no doubt you're capable of it if it's something you want.

It is arguably still worse than in the first game since it doesn't have those overlapping hitboxes, but yeah, brushes did re-enter the meta and people consider them a lot more viable than they used to

Lies and slander

totally normal.if your losing a bunch in a row you might just be having an off day, happens to everyone

I mean, you're playing a competitive game; in competitive games you lose sometimes, unless you're at a much higher level than everyone in that rank. I lost a match here and there even down in lower ranks while I was shooting these videos. Think about it like this: you either win or you learn.

Really so it’s normal to lose alot of matches

@@rjlangaman4741 On my competitive team, we actively seek out opportunities to lose because we don't learn as much from winning. Weaker teams don't show us what we're doing wrong because we can mess something up and still win. If you approach a loss as a chance to learn about something you're doing wrong, you'll get a lot more out of it than just worrying about whether you're naturally talented enough to keep trying or whatever else you might be thinking when something goes wrong. Losing is part of getting better, no matter how good or bad you are.

@@SquidSchool huh I never thought about it like that when I lose I just think about trying again and doing better thank you so much for your help man really appreciate it

please say sike :(

@@SquidSchool nope

@@SquidSchool if I play ever other game with stick controls why wouldn't I use them for this game

@@doaflip4176 You know what? You're right. If I use a Switch controller for every other game then I should be able to use a Switch controller to play The Typing of the Dead.