2017 Splatoon 2 World Inkling Invitational

The 2017 Splatoon 2 World Inkling Invitational was a Splatoon 2 tournament that took place several days before E3 2017. It served both as a tournament pitting four regional champions against one another and a showcase for the upcoming Nintendo Switch game, over five weeks before its official release.

Qualifiers
One team was chosen to represent each of the four regions at the Invitational through its own regional Splatoon tournament: Japan, United States, Europe, and Australia/New Zealand.

Japan
Dynameu won the Splatoon Koshien 2017 tournament out of over 700 teams and represented Japan in the Invitational. Named after what was considered the best player in Japan – Dynamon, previously a player on a rival team – Dynameu recruited him prior to the Invitational. Having qualified in the region with the most teams and the highest level of competition in Splatoon, Dynameu entered the Invitational as the favorites to win.

United States
Deadbeat won the Splatoon U.S. Inkling Open 2017 after defeating SpeedRunsLive in the quarter-final, three games to none in Splat Zones; Lost Faction in the semifinal, three games to none in Tower Control; and Deep Blues in the grand finals, three games to none in Rainmaker,, finishing the tournament with a record of sixteen wins to one loss (in Turf War). Its members proceeded to represent the United States in the World Championship.

Europe
Rising Moon represented France in the ESL Go4Splatoon Europe Grand Final and defeated de Extermination and 🇪🇺 eu BYE to earn the right to represent Europe in the World Championship.

Australia/New Zealand
Blue Ringed Octolings won the 2017 Australia/New Zealand Splatoon Cup over $¢arthAce and represented Australia and New Zealand in the Invitational.

E3 2017 Championship – Round Robin
There were only six stages used throughout the Invitational: The Reef, Musselforge Fitness, Starfish Mainstage, Humpback Pump Track, Inkblot Art Academy, and Moray Towers. Only certain weapons and Abilities were available for the Splatoon 2 build used throughout the Invitational.

Matches were a series of round robin Turf War battles to determine seeding, which was determined by the number of wins for each team. In case of a three-way tie, the tiebreaker goes to the team with the highest average percentage of ink covered throughout all games played.

(Note: winning teams are in bold.)

E3 2017 Championship – Semifinals
The semifinals were a best of five, single-elimination round on mostly Ranked Battle modes.

Both pairs of teams played the same series of modes on different stages. In the first semifinal, the top seeded jp Dynameu was matched up against the Number 4 Seed,  fr Rising Moon. The Number 2 Seed, au Blue Ringed Octolings, faced the Number 3 seeded 🇺🇸 us Deadbeat in the second semifinal.

Semifinal 1: [[undefined|jp]] Dynameu vs.  [[undefined|fr]] Rising Moon
(* - if neccessary)

Semifinal 2: [[undefined|au]] Blue Ringed Octolings vs. 🇺🇸 [[united states|us]] Deadbeat
(OT denotes a game that went into Overtime)

(* - if neccessary)

E3 2017 Championship – Finals
The finals were a best of seven, single-elimination round between the semifinals winners, jp Dynameu and 🇺🇸 us Deadbeat, on mostly Ranked Battle modes.

(OT denotes a game that went into Overtime)

(* - if neccessary)

Hisashi Nogami presented the winners, 🇺🇸 us Deadbeat, their medals and the Splatoon Sterling Squid.

Commentary
Commentary was provided on Nintendo's YouTube channel by NBC Sports Northwest broadcaster Jordan Kent, CNET Senior Editor Ashley Esqueda, and Nintendo Treehouse expert Eric Smith.