Tableturf Battle

Tableturf Battle​

Tableturf Battle

Type	Online Multiplayer or Single player with CPU's
Players	2
Ranked	Yes
Weapons	All
Controllers	Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller
Release Date	9 September 2022

Tableturf Battle is an in-universe collectible card game inspired by Turf War battles, but turn-based and designed for two players. Both players use the cards in their custom decks to add ink patterns to a grid-like board, competing to have the most ink on the board at the end of the game.

Tableturf Battle is popular in the Splatlands and can be played in Splatsville's Tableturf Battle Dojo.

History

Tableturf Battle was announced on 10 August 2022 during the Splatoon 3 Direct. It was released with the launch of Splatoon 3.

Cards

Main article: List of Tableturf Battle cards in Splatoon 3

There are currently 162 cards to collect. The cards are based on weapons, characters, and other Splatoon concepts such as Tower Control.

Splattershot Jr. card

Attributes

The face of every card has:

• a name at the top,
• an illustration in the center,
• an 8-by-8 square grid containing an ink pattern in the lower-right corner,
• a number inside a diamond in the lower-left corner equal to the number of squares the pattern covers, and
• a Special Attack cost, indicated by the number of Special Space squares that are shown at the bottom.

The ink pattern depicted in the grid is added to the board when the card is played. Most card patterns contain exactly one Special Space, indicated by their unique colour.

A card's Special Attack cost is typically proportionate to its size, roughly equal to one Special Point per three spaces (rounded up). Cards that do not feature a Special Space have a lower Special Attack cost than other cards of the same size.

There are three levels of card rarity: Common, Rare, and Fresh. The color of the card's name and the diamond in the lower-left corner correspond to this rarity, being either purple, yellow, or multi-colored respectively.

Each card has a sequence number that is not shown on the card but can be used for sorting. For example, the .52 Gal card is No. 7.

Each card has an upgrade level that affects the card's appearance. The level is indicated using one, two, or three stars.

Acquiring cards

Every player receives a Starter Deck from Staff at the Tableturf Battle Dojo upon speaking to them for the first time. This deck is always composed of these 15 cards.

Starter Deck
Splattershot	Slosher	Zapfish
Blaster	Splat Dualies	Flooder
Splat Roller	Tri-Stringer	Chum
Splat Charger	Splatana Wiper	SquidForce
Heavy Splatling	Splat Bomb	Marigold

Players can earn either normal or "fresh" card packs by increasing their Tableturf Battle rank or catalog level. The Shell-Out Machine also has a chance to dispense normal packs, but whether or not the Shell-Out Machine can dispense fresh card packs is currently unknown. You can find some card packs by exploring Alterna as well. A pack contains five random cards, with a fresh pack containing one guaranteed Fresh card. Players cannot own more than one copy of a card; duplicates are converted to a certain number of card bits based on their rarity. Players can spend card bits to acquire new cards or upgrade the appearance of existing cards.

Upgrading cards

Upgrading a card from ★ to ★★ changes its background image.

Upgrading a card from ★★ to ★★★ adds a holographic foil layer.

Decks

A deck contains 15 cards. A player can save up to 16 decks, assigning a name and a card sleeve design to each one. When selecting or editing a deck, the total number of spaces covered by the ink patterns of cards in the deck is shown.

When the player receives the Starter Deck, it is automatically saved to their first deck slot with the name "Starter Deck" and the default sleeves.

Sleeves

New sleeves can be unlocked by reaching certain Tableturf ranks or by defeating a (non-Jellyfish) rival 30 times on Level 3.

Crusty Sean's sleeve design is available as a Wandercrust Tour reward.

• 

  Default

• 

  Big Man

• 

  Agent 1

• 

  Cuttlefish

• 

  Crusty Sean

• 

  Frye

• 

  Gnarly Eddy

• 

  Harmony

• 

  Jel La Fleur

• 

  Judd

• 

  Li'l Judd

• 

  Agent 2

• 

  Mr. Coco

• 

  Murch

• 

  Sheldon

• 

  Shiver

• 

  Staff

• 

  Rank 20

• 

  Rank 40

• 

  Rank 49

Rules

A game lasts 12 turns. Each turn, working simultaneously, both players choose a card from a hand of four cards and decide where to place that card's ink pattern on the board. Players may also pass, discarding one card from their hand and gaining a Special Point.

Ink placement

A card's ink pattern must be placed orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to spaces that already contain the player's ink. On a normal turn, it cannot overlap existing ink.

If both players try to place their ink patterns in the same spot, one of two things will happen:

• If the two cards have different numbers, then the card with the larger ink pattern is placed first, and the card with the smaller ink pattern is placed second. The smaller pattern covers up the larger one. However, Special Spaces can only be covered by other Special Spaces.
• If the two cards have the same number, then both cards add their ink patterns to the board at the same time. Spaces where the patterns overlap become neutral walls and cannot be inked again. Special Spaces do not become walls unless both are on the exact same square.

Special Spaces and Special Attacks

When a Special Space on the board has no empty spaces adjacent to it (including diagonally), the space will begin to glow with a fiery effect. When this happens, the player that the space belongs to earns a Special Point.

A player can spend Special Points to play a card as a Special Attack, allowing the card's ink pattern to be placed over existing ink (but not Special Spaces or Walls) and replace it. When a card is played as a Special Attack, its ink pattern must be placed orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to one of the player's own Special Spaces on the board.

End of game

The player with more ink spaces on the board at the end of the game wins. However, the player who resigns always loses, regardless of how many ink spaces they have.

Rank and rewards

Players earn Tableturf Points at the end of each game. 40 points are awarded for a loss or draw, while 100, 115, or 130 points are awarded for a win against a Splatsville rival, depending on the rival's level. For a computer-controlled player, 115, 130 or 150 points can be awarded. This value is fixed for each player that appears, seemingly at random. No points are awarded for resigning (giving up).

At certain point thresholds, the player's Tableturf Rank increases, allowing access to new opponents and unlocking new Tableturf Battle stages (for use when testing out decks in the editor), as well as Splashtag and Emote options.

Tableturf Battle Rank Rewards

Points Needed		Rank	Reward
Total	Diff.
0	N/A	1	Rival: Baby Jelly
100	100	2	Rival: Cool Jelly
250	150	3	Pack of cards
400	150	4	Rival: Aggro Jelly
550	150	5	Stage: Thunder Point
700	150	6	Title: Fun - Tableturf Battler File:S3 Title Random.png
850	150	7	Rival: Sheldon
1000	150	8	Stage: X Marks the Garden
1150	150	9	Pack of cards
1300	150	10	Banner: Rank 10
1500	200	11	Rival: Gnarly Eddy
1750	250	12	Sticker: Tableturf Battle sticker 1
2050	300	13	Rival: Jel La Fleur
2400	350	14	Stage: Square Squared
2810	410	15	Rival: Mr. Coco
3270	460	16	Pack of cards
3790	520	17	Rival: Harmony
4370	580	18	Stage: Lakefront Property
5000	630	19	Rival: Judd
5690	690	20	Card Sleeves: Rank 20
6440	750	21	Rival: Li'l Judd
7250	810	22	Stage: Double Gemini
8120	870	23	Pack of cards
9060	940	24	Rival: Murch
10060	1000	25	Banner: Rank 25
11130	1070	26	Rival: Shiver
12260	1130	27	Stage: River Drift
13460	1200	28	Decoration: Tri-Stringer Card
14730	1270	29	Rival: Frye
16070	1340	30	Emote: Card Shark, and Badge: Rank 30
17480	1410	31	Rival: Big Man
18960	1480	32	Locker sticker
20510	1550	33	Pack of cards
22140	1630	34	Rival: Staff
23840	1700	35	Stage: Box Seats
25620	1780	36	Locker sticker
27480	1860	37	Decoration: Trizooka Card
29420	1940	38	Rival: Cuttlefish
31440	2020	39	Locker sticker
33540	2100	40	Card Sleeves: Rank 40 and Badge: Rank 40
35720	2180	41	Rival: Agent 1 (Callie)
37990	2270	42	Locker sticker
40340	2350	43	Decoration: Smallfry Card
42780	2440	44	Rival: Agent 2 (Marie)
45310	2530	45	Locker sticker
47930	2620	46	Banner: Rank 46
50640	2710	47	Rival: Clone Jelly
53450	2810	48	Locker sticker
56350	2900	49	Card Sleeves: Rank 49
59683	3333	50	Title: The Strongest - Card Gamer and Badge: Rank 50 File:S3 Title Random.png

Gallery

• 

  Banner: Rank 10

• 

  Banner: Rank 25

• 

  Banner: Rank 46

• 

  Emote: Card Shark

• 

  Badge: Rank 30

• 

  Badge: Rank 40

• 

  Badge: Rank 50

• 

  Pack of Cards

• 

  Fresh Card Pack

Opponents

Players can battle their way to the top by challenging the 'Splatsville locals', a group of computer controlled Tableturf opponents. The 'Splatsville locals' are comprised of "Baby Jelly", "Cool Jelly", "Aggro Jelly", Sheldon, Gnarly Eddy, Jel La Fleur, Mr. Coco, Harmony, Judd, Li’l Judd, Murch, Shiver, Frye, Big Man, "Staff", Cuttlefish, Agent 1, Agent 2 and "Clone Jelly".

Each of the 'Splatsville locals' have 3 difficulty rankings (Rank 1, Rank 2, and Rank 3). When a new 'Splatsville local' is unlocked, only Rank 1 is available for the player to challenge. When the player has beaten a 'Splatsville local' three times at a particular Rank, the next sequential Rank is unlocked.

Some player avatars holding a small spread of cards can be played against; they gather by groups of three to the right of Hotlantis and around the Battle Dojo. Each will take the form of a computer opponent using that player's deck. Beating them can award either 115, 130 or 150 exp, as shown before challenging them. AIs awarding 150 exp will have a much more aggressive playstyle.

A free update to Splatoon 3 will allow online play against other human players sometime in the future.

Computer-controlled opponents

Main article: List of Tableturf Battle rivals in Splatoon 3

There are nineteen Splatsville Locals to fight in Tableturf Battle, each of whom wields a unique deck of cards.

Stages

There are eight stages:

Icon	Name	Spaces
	Box Seats	100
	Double Gemini	249
	Lakefront Property	240
	Main Street	234
	River Drift	245
	Square Squared	225
	Thunder Point	240
	X Marks the Garden	245

Quotes

“	Remember the discovery of the Tableturf Battle minigame in our Splatoon 3 Direct? SRL here - we wanted to make sure this competitive card game didn't get lost in the shuffle, so to speak. Collect cards, build out your deck, and see who can ink the most 2D table turf to win! Of course, Tableturf Battle is deeper than that, and we've discovered that an official manual exists! Nothing beats field research, but you can get a tentacle up by reading through the manual carefully before starting a battle. Did you even KNOW there are Special Attacks?	”
— @SplatoonNA on Twitter

Trivia

• Some cards have similar postures to the weapon illustrations from Splatoon or other promotional material.
• The player may not challenge Sheldon, Gnarly Eddy, Jel La Fleur, Mr. Coco, Harmony, or Murch without first having spoken to them.
• If a player tries to battle against Shiver but has not completed Return of the Mammalians yet, the game will tell them it is not available until they finish the story mode.
• During Splatfests, players cannot play against Shiver, Frye, or Big Man.
• All Splatsville Locals other than the Jellies use their own card in their deck.
  • Each member of Deep Cut also uses the other two members' cards.
  • Agents 1 and 2 have both Callie and Marie in their deck, with the latter also using Sheldon.
  • The only other character to use another character's card is Judd, who uses Li'l Judd.
• The cards based off of special weapons are the only cards to lack a Special Space.
  • The ink pattern on all such cards covers exactly 12 spaces.

• Each rival's deck (other than the jellyfish) follow a theme.
  • Sheldon's deck is solely themed after weaponry, with no cards themed after brands, Octarians, or Salmonids, referencing his status as the world's premier weapon salesman.
  • Gnarly Eddy's deck seems to focus on cards with a similar shape to his own character card, and other cards such as Luna Blaster that synergise well with them.
  • Most of Jel La Fleur's cards are of gear brands, befitting of his reputation as a connoisseur of fashion.
  • Mr. Coco's deck features remarkably few brands compared to Gnarly Eddy and Jel La Fleur, focusing instead on heavy weapons and other "heavy" things such as the Big Shot, befitting his titanic stature.
  • Harmony's deck seems to have no specific theme, perhaps reflecting the wide assortment of items found at Hotlantis or simply her blasé attitude toward deck building.
  • Judd's deck features the Tower Control, Rainmaker, and Power Clam cards, referencing three of the four modes of Anarchy Battles. He also has Li'l Judd's card, referencing their roles as the arbiters of matches.
  • All but two of Li'l Judd's cards are directly themed after Salmon Run Next Wave: his own card, and the Inkjet, which itself is a special weapon available in the mode. This, along with both his Salmon Run-themed card sleeves, and the headset that he gains after the player clears Return of the Mammalians, may imply that he's the new owner of Grizzco.
  • Most of Murch's cards have diagonal patterns, similar to his own card.
  • All three members of Deep Cut have each others' cards.
    • Shiver wields both stringer-based cards, and the Maws and Reefslider cards may reference her shark-tamer pedigree.
    • Frye's deck has little theming apart from wielding both splatana-based cards, but the inclusion of the Steel Eel in her deck might recall her eel-trainer lineage.
    • Big Man's deck consists primarily of explosives, possibly referencing his boss battle, where he threw out many such explosives, as well as the Triple Inkstrike, in the form of the Manta Storm.
  • Staff has the lowest total ink coverage of any Splatsville Local, taking advantage of the claustrophobic board on which she is fought. Her deck seems to have little theming outside of this.
  • Cuttlefish's deck consists solely of characters found in Alterna, and his Bamboozler card refers to his signature weapon, which he uses as a cane.
  • Agents 1 and 2 have each others' cards, referencing their music career as the Squid Sisters. Additionally, many of their weapon-based cards belong to their favored weapon classes, among other things:
    • Agent 1 has every roller-based card, as well as a few Octarian-based cards, referencing her brief stint working for the Octarians.
    • Agent 2 has every charger-based card, and her Undercover Brella card may reference the parasol she brandishes in Octo Canyon and Alterna. She also has Sheldon's card, referencing the two of them working together in Octo Canyon.

Gallery

• 

  Card List screen

• 

  Results screen

• 

  Tableturf Battle machines on the upper floor of the Battle Lobby.

• 

  Logo

• 

  Card illustrations

• 

  An unusual arrangement of neutral spaces, seen at left, caused by two Heavy Splatling cards being played in the exact same space

• 

  An instance of receiving a pack of Tableturf Battle cards that are already possessed by the player, having them be converted into Card Bits

• 

  A draw against Sheldon

• 

  The Card-Bit Exchange, showing what cards the player does and does not have.

• 

  Opting to create the E-liter 4K card.

• 

  The result.

Rules

• 

  Tableturf Battle: The Freshest Card Game

• 

  A One-on-One Turf War...with Cards!

• 

  Ink It All with Cards

• 

  The Rules of Inking

• 

  The Where and How of Inking

• 

  Special Points for You

• 

  Special Attacks Turn the Tide

• 

  Build Your Collection

• 

  Deck Out Your Cards

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	陣取大戦ナワバトラー jintori taisen nawabatorā	Great Territory Wars: Turf-Battler
Dutch	Slijkslag	From slijk ("mud") and slag ("battle" and, from card games, "the winning of cards from players by one player")
French (NOE)	Cartes & Territoire	Cards & Territory
German	Revierdecks	Turf decks
Italian	Splattanza
Russian	Карты и район Karty i rayon	Cards and region
Spanish (NOA)	Combate carterritorial	From combate ("combat," "battle"), carta ("playing card") and territorial (which is also the term used for Turf Wars)
Spanish (NOE)	Lucha carterritorial	From lucha ("fight"), carta ("playing card") and territorial (which is also the term used for Turf Wars)
Korean	영역 배틀러	Area Battler