Tricolor Turf War

Tricolor Turf War is a mode in, exclusively available after the halftime report in Splatfests.

History
Tricolor Turf War was first announced on 2022-08-10 during the Splatoon 3 Direct, and was first available in the Splatoon 3 Splatfest World Premiere on 2022-08-27.

Description
In Tricolor Turf War, the goal is the same as Turf War: ink the most ground to win. It is a team of four versus two teams of two. One team of four, chosen at random, starts in the center of the stage and acts as defenders. Two of their spawn drones will start on the left; the other two on the right. The other teams, known as attackers, will send in two players each at the regular spawn areas of the map. The defending team will try to hold a majority of the map while the attacking teams will cooperate to overtake the first-place team.

The defending team also has another goal: prevent the attackers from getting the two Ultra Signals. When an attacking player touches the Ultra Signal, it will be charged with ink to send a signal to one of the members of Deep Cut. That member will then send a Sprinkler of Doom to the battlefield, which will spray large amounts of ink around the stage, giving an advantage to the team that claimed the Ultra Signal. Players can splat others if they are trying to get a hold of the Ultra Signal as well.

Players can join Tricolor Battles alone (in which case they are paired with a random player), or team up with a friend. Each attacking team is one pair, and the defending team consists of two.

If an attacking team wins the battle (i.e., inks the most turf), members of that team earn 6,000 victory Clout, members of the other attacking team earn 5,000 victory Clout, and members of the defending team earn none. On the other hand, if the defending team wins the battle, members of the defending team earn 9,000 victory Clout (multiplied by their Synergy Bonus), and the attackers earn none.

When attacking as the second and third-placed team, or defending as the first-placed team, 1.5x Clout is rewarded for a successful victory. The team does not need to all be matching, as in, no matter if the first or second-placed team is defending, the third-placed team will always be awarded 1.5x Clout on victory.

The attacking teams can also earn Clout for Ultra Signals. Each unsuccessful attempt to claim an Ultra Signal is worth 300 Clout. Each successful attempt is worth 2,500 Clout, which replaces the Clout earned for unsuccessful attempts to claim the same Ultra Signal. In addition, members of the defending team individually earn Clout equal to the amount of turf they inked multiplied by their Synergy Bonus. Members of the attacking team also individually earn Clout equal to the amount of turf they inked if the match is not a victory.

Stages

 * * Prior to Version 2.0.0 the team leading in halftime was locked to be the defending team while second and third place were attackers instead.
 * † The Tricolor Turf War layout of Sturgeon Shipyard was altered since its appearance in the Rock vs. Paper vs. Scissors Splatfest. The altered layout was implemented in version in preparation for the Grass vs. Fire vs. Water Splatfest that took place in version.
 * ‡ Unlike other Tricolor Turf War stages, Scorch Gorge has a completely redesigned layout in the shape of the Triforce, rather than altering the Turf War layout to accomodate the mode.

Tips

 * During the match, excluding the first few seconds and the last five seconds, there is a tracker near the top of the screen that shows how much turf each team has claimed as a percentage out of the whole map. Players can use this to their advantage to find which team might be better to paint over to bring them down from the lead. This is slightly easier for the defending team to do as they have access to the center of the stage and can get to either side of the map without having to cross another team's base or main territory.
 * The attacking teams respawn faster than the defending team. The attacking team can use this faster respawn to their advantage and take riskier fights to attempt to secure the Ultra Signal.
 * However, since attacking teams have less players, they are much more vulnerable when a single player gets splatted as opposed to the defending team. Attackers should take extra caution in the last few seconds of the match to prevent being overtaken at the end.
 * After every failed attempt to secure the Ultra Signal, the amount of time needed to capture it decreases. The first time an attacking team attempts to capture the Ultra Signal, it will take 180 frames (3 seconds) to secure it. The next time that team tries to capture it, it will take 150 frames (2.5 seconds), and then 120 frames (2 seconds), 90 frames (1.5 seconds), 60 frames (1 second), 40 frames (0.67 seconds), until it finally caps out at 20 frames (0.33 seconds). The timer resets when the team manages to secure it. Quick Respawn can be useful in this situation to brute force the objective and capture the Ultra Signal.

Attacking

 * If the defending all team splits up, the attackers can use this to their advantage to take them down two-on-one.
 * If either one of the attacking teams claim the most territory with their paint, both attacking teams will earn a victory.
 * Therefore, the attacking teams should try to avoid splatting or painting over eachother.
 * Conversely, an attacking team has the most clout to gain by taking both signals, so it is often worth it for them to prevent the other attacking team from taking them, and only cooperate once both signals are captured.
 * Placing a Big Bubbler around the Ultra Signal when capturing it can help protect it from opposing teams.
 * Players can even use a Big Bubbler from a different team in order to be safe from fire from the third team.
 * Because repeatedly grabbing the Ultra Signal lowers the amount of time to capture it with each attempt, Quick Respawn can be useful to brute force the objective and capture the Ultra Signal.
 * The attacking team has a much larger spawn area to paint than the defenders, painting it thuroughly can guarentee many points at the end of the match.

Defending

 * The defenders should split up in pairs of two to protect the Ultra Signal, so if an attacker goes for the ultra signal, one defender can leave to stop the attack while the other can paint and watch for other attacks.
 * Weapons that are good with fighting other players are very useful for defenders, due to having a smaller spawn area to paint, as well as needing a way to quickly splat the attackers when they grab the Ultra Signal.
 * Defenders can use long range weapons and stand near the Ultra Signal to look for players coming to them, as well as being able to deal with the situation at a distance.
 * Ink Mine can be placed by the Ultra Signal to deal some damage to those going for the Ultra Signal, therefore making them easier to splat.
 * Ink Mine can also be placed along common attacking routes to see if an attacker is going for the signal and locate them.
 * Toxic Mist can be thrown at attackers going towards the Ultra Signal to provide more time for the defending team to take action.
 * Special Saver and Tenacity prove to be useful for the defenders when they are in a disadvantage, allowing them to save their defending specials when they get splatted, and quickly charge their defending special when their teammates are splatted.

Quotes
"Speaking of research, we've got more on Splatfests. During the second half of each event, we'll see something we've never seen before - Tricolor Turf War battles! Results will be provided in something called a "Halftime Report," and the lower-tier teams will gang up on the leader!

This is where it gets REALLY interesting. The leading team will start with four players and the central turf, and it must defend itself against two teams of two! Just like a regular Turf War battle, it'll be three full minutes of chaos."

- @SplatoonNA on Twitter

Badges
Winning a certain amount of battles will reward the player with special badges that they can use on their Splashtag.

Trivia

 * Prior to Version 2.0.0, whichever team was in first place at the Halftime Report was always on defense, and the other two were always on offense. Players on the first-place team could not directly select Tricolor Battles from the menu. When they chose Splatfest Battle (Open), they had a random chance of being thrown into a Tricolor Battle.