Splatoon 3 North American Championship 2023

The Splatoon 3 North American Championship 2023 was a competitive tournament that occurred on 2023-03-26, involving the top two finishing teams of each event from the Splatoon 3 Splatsville Showdown 2022.

Teams
Each of the four participating teams competed in and won one of two events of the Splatoon 3 Splatsville Showdown, which were held from 2022-12-02 to 2022-12-03 and from 2023-01-13 to 2023-01-14.

Starburst
The favorite entering this tournament, Starburst, was one of two co-winners of the first event of the Splatoon 3 Splatsville Showdown by winning the event outright through the Winner's Bracket. On the first day of the event, it first advanced from the Ladder stage as the #2 seed with a 13-0 match record and a 26-2 game record, behind only #1 seed Destiny Bond.

However, the next day, it faced some stiff opposition in both the Bracket and Double Elimination stages. After sweeping #15 seed Ataraxia 3-0, Starburst faced #7 seed Sayonara in a back-and-forth series, from which the former emerged victorious. In the Double Elimination stage, Starburst fell behind #6 seed Ascension 0-2 before pulling off a reverse sweep to win the Winner's Semifinal 3-2. After overcoming those challenges, Starburst swept Destiny Bond in the Winner's Final to earn a spot in the Splatoon 3 North American Championship 2023.

Roster
(Note: Roles in bold are the primary role of a player.)

Destiny Bond
Destiny Bond consists of a mix of competitive Splatoon veterans, including two former members of Sayonara in Jared and Zero, the once-highest-ranked individual western player of Splatoon 2. It went 13-0 in matches in the Ladder stage without losing a single game, earning the #1 seed.

The next day in the Bracket stage, after sweeping #16 seed Half Baked 3-0, Destiny Bond finally lost its first game to #9 seed Mysterial Ultraviolet Garfield before winning the next three in a row. After a tight Winner's Semifinal 3-2 victory against #4 seed DNA, Destiny Bond finally lost a series, a 0-3 sweep at the hands of Starburst (see above), and dropped down to the Loser's Bracket. In Loser's Final, Destiny Bond would drop the first game to #6 Ascension before winning the next three, punching its ticket to PAX East.

Crush Soda
Led by former FTWin member and seven-time North American champion Kyo and comprised of players old and new, Crush Soda finished the first day of the second event of the Splatoon 3 Splatsville Showdown as the #1 seed with a perfect 11-0 match record and an equally impressive 22-4 game record.

The next day, it proceeded to sweep #16 seed Seasick and #9 seed Wempest to advance to the Double Elimination stage, where it held off a reverse sweep attempt by #4 seed Sayonara in a thrilling 3-2 series win. Finally, Crush Soda swept #7 seed and previous event finalist Ascension 3-0 to claim the first of two available spots in the Splatoon 3 North American Championship 2023.

Roster
Thunder, who participated in the second event of the Splatoon 3 Splatsville Showdown, was also present but did not play during the Championship.

Sayonara
Considered by many western pundits as the second best team in North America behind only Starburst, Sayonara returned two of its longtime members and introduced a pair of newcomers to its ranks in Isa and Leafi to replace the recently departed Jared and Zero (see above). It participated in the first event of the Splatoon 3 Splatsville Showdown, reaching the Bracket stage as the #7 seed and sweeping #10 seed InC Red Sun before getting eliminated by #2 seed Starburst (see above).

In the second event, Sayonara would improve its finish in the Ladder stage, climbing up to 4th. After defeating #13 seed Legato 3-0 and #5 seed Draconic 3-1, Sayonara would lose to eventual winner Crush Soda 3-2 (see above). In the Loser's Semifinals, Sayonara would rebound off a Game 1 loss against #3 seed Last Resort to win 3-1 before sweeping #7 seed Ascension 3-0 in Loser's Finals to secure the final ticket to PAX East.

Nine days later, it was announced that Isa was removed from Sayonara's roster for disciplinary reasons. On 2023-03-03, Fuzzy, a longtime veteran in competitive Splatoon, was announced to be to be Sayonara's fourth player at PAX East.

Tournament
The four teams played a total of four games of Turf War in a Mini Bracket Round to determine seeding for the Semifinal Round. Then, teams were paired based on their seeding for the Semifinal Round, from which the winners faced each other in the Grand Final Round.

A limited number of stages were available to choose from for all modes. In addition, only main abilities were allowed for use.

For the first game of each bracket, the higher seed chose the mode while the lower seed chose the stage. After the first game, the winning team would choose the mode while the losing team chose the stage. Modes could not be chosen more than two times per match.

Semifinal 1: 🇺🇸 [[united states|us]] Destiny Bond vs 🇺🇸 [[united states|us]] Starburst
(* - if neccessary)

Grand Final Round
(* - if neccessary)

Commentary
Commentary was provided on Nintendo's YouTube channel by NBC Sports Northwest broadcaster Jordan Kent, Charles "NineWholeGrains" Whitehead, and Mellana. ShinyHunterZach provided in-depth analysis at the telestrator.