Splatoon 3 Esports Semi-Finals Roundup
The final of the first ever Digital Schoolhouse Splatoon 3 is in sight as WASD looms upon us. Teams across the UK have made it all the way after battling through the regional qualifiers and semi-finals which were held in the Guild Esports arena, Shoreditch and Level Tap, Liverpool. 11 Schools made it this far so congratulations to all of you on this huge achievement!
Both semi-finals were hotly contested affairs, brilliantly produced and commented by students from competing schools. We hope you managed to catch some of the action over on our Twitch channel to get a full feel of the wonderful atmosphere from the days. We witnessed some of the most intense, close games that we've seen so far as the skill level was definitely turned up a notch by the gifted players involved.
So, here's what went down at both of the semis...
Guild Esports, London
First up, we took over Guild Esports in London for the day which proved to be a spectacular venue for our students to soak in the environment of a high-level competitive esports centre. Thank you so much Guild Esports!
As the clock hit 10am, schools were already arriving at the venue and eager to get started as a positive, excited energy filled the air. We hosted 5 southern schools who all came prepared and ready to battle it out for their spot in the grand final. We also had a special guest Ben in attendance from Nintendo UK, and he proved to be a very helpful member of staff as well as being such an insightful guest for the students to quiz throughout the day on what it's like working at one of the most famous, well-renowned video games companies in the world.
The semi-finals were arranged in a double-elimination bracket format, meaning that every team had two chances to progress in the tournament, as losing teams faced off in a 'loser's' bracket, whilst winning teams progressed through the 'winner's bracket'. After many entertaining games of Turf War, Tower Control & Splat Zones, we finally had our finalists - Southend High School for Boys cruised through the winner's bracket without dropping a game, whilst Hinchley Wood School also manged to remain unbeaten, fighting off very stern competition from Prendergast Ladywell School to get there.
It all came down to this: Hinchley Wood School vs Southend High School for Boys to determine who will go home with the glory, medals and a top seed for the grand final.
The final was a glorious, intense set of matches but there could be only one winner - the team that had not dropped a single game throughout the whole day. Massive congratulations went to... Southend High School for Boys! That being said, we look forward to welcoming both teams back for the grand final, we hope you've been working on your 'strats'.
Bringing the competition to life, we have to give a special shoutout to our energetic, entertaining commentators on the day. Well done to the winners of the commentary competition - Isabelle (solo) and Tommy & Violet (duo). See you at WASD!
Level Tap, Liverpool
Next up, we travelled up to Liverpool to host the Northern semi-final at Level Tap in Liverpool, which was a stunning venue catering for all of our needs, as well as supplying some super tasty pizza to keep the competitors fuelled and ready to go.
Due to the way the venue was laid out, we had a production and commentating station on a balcony above the general viewing and player area, with the sounds of our student commentators ringing out across the arena, creating an incredible atmosphere as schools cheered and chanted for teams even when they were knocked out of the competition. We loved to see the passion!
Following the same rules from the first event at Guild, we ran a double elimination bracket as 6 schools battled it out for those 2 elusive grand finals spots.
After lots of heated action throughout the day, two schools came out on top. The final matchup was certainly not one to miss as it displayed the best aspects of Splatoon 3 and what makes the game so great, with the final game being the most intense, chaotic, fun match we've witnessed in the tournament so far. Altrincham Grammar vs Outwood City Academy was definitely one for the history books - massive congratulations to the narrow winners on the day, Altrincham Grammar!
Again, we'd like to also say a massive congratulations and thank you to the wonderful student commentators and producer on the day. Well done to everyone who got involved and congratulations to Lawrence, Dax, Nasif & William and Rueben & Andrew who are all progressing to the next stage this year.
The grand final is up next, and the stage is set for the occasion that we're so excited for. Catch all of the action on the 25th of April from 10am via our dedicated Twitch channel here. See you soon!
