Finally we round out our pre-season interviews with the winner of the Firetail Octos 48 hour challenge and both mine and Hess’ pick for the Golden Gun award ThePurpleNess1 of the New Zealand Rush. He is joined on the team by caZ, Griffin, Maffew, REI-13 and Sluke. His regular team Sturgeon Turf finished winners of the Oceanink Series Season 6 Playoffs after a commendable 3rd place in Division 1. Both viewers and his enemies will be quick to learn just how proficient he is with his beloved .96 Gal.
On a scale of one to winning a game 9 how excited are you for the league?
I’m around winning a game 8. Like everyone else in OCE, I’m excited, but what I really want to see is how successful this is and if it can keep growing into further seasons and beyond.
What are you looking forward to the most when the league begins in June?
I’m excited to look at all the match stats! I’ve always loved looking at league tables and player-performance charts, and I think it’s awesome how Firetail have brought that over to Splatoon.
Right now what do you feel are the team’s strengths and what aspects of the team need significant improvement? (e.g. regarding weapon comps, push timings, communication, managing egos)
Our team’s playstyles fit together pretty well, so we’ve been able to get comps together pretty quickly. Everyone is pretty chill as well, so for the most part managing egos hasn’t been something I’m too worried about. We do have a lot of players who have traditionally played more of a support role though, so I would like to see us try and play a bit more aggressively.
Has the team been playing together in scrims or tournaments such as Training Tuesdays and what have the results been like?
In the past few weeks we’ve gotten together and started playing league fairly regularly. We started out a little shaky (like every pickup team), but recently it’s been really nice seeing us begin to figure out everyone’s playstyles and start to work as a team a little more. In terms of scrimming other teams, so far we’ve only managed to play a few against Sydney, but we’re trying to get more set up. I definitely think we’ve started to really improve as a team, and I hope we can carry that through to the start of the season.
How do you think the team is going to use substitutions within sets? Do you have certain players that are strong in particular modes that can be super-subs or just play out sets with the same 4 players?
From personal experience, I’ve found that playing out sets with the same team works out much better – even if you have slightly worse comps, the synergy you develop through the set means you play so much better.
Which team in the league do you feel will be the hardest to face and why?
All the teams are stacked, but in particular I’m looking out for Adelaide – they got picked as the wooden spoon by 3 of Firetail’s experts, and I think Adelaide will be looking to prove the experts wrong.
Do you or the team have a favourite Splatoon-related meme?
I asked the team and Maffew doesn’t even think that Splatoon meme formats exist, so… I guess not?
For the next balance patch, what weapon would you like to see get buffed and what weapon would you like to see get nerfed?
On the whole, I think the game’s pretty balanced. The only thing I’d really like changed is a splash-wall buff in order to double the number of usable .96 Gals =)
What’s one misconception about AUNZ/OCE Splatoon 2 players you’d like cleared up?
Our internet is not slow, the speed of light is slow.
In all seriousness, I don’t know what the misconceptions of AUNZ players are. In my experience, everyone here is really kind and just wants to improve and be the best they can, so if you ever want to get in contact with AUNZ people, don’t feel shy!