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 on 2 and 2022-12-03 and on 13 and 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.

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.