My Competitive Video Game Journey Under The Gamer Tag "Cob"

Enjoy reading my experience of competing at the top level in the video game "Splatoon" and attending major tournaments across North America!

Personal background with video games

Video games have always been one of my favourite hobbies growing up. My family enjoyed playing Nintendo consoles which had franchises such as Mario, Zelda and Animal Crossing. I did play other consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation, however that was only when I visited my friends or cousins. I tend to enjoy Nintendo due to their family friendly games and felt they offered a variety of unique games that are popular worldwide (Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros definitely come to mind).

My first console was the Nintendo GameCube along with the Super Nintendo that my family owned. After school, I would play on the GameCube whenever I got the chance to. In the year 2006, I was gifted a Nintendo Wii console shortly after its launch for Christmas! Throughout the Nintendo Wii era, I began to increase my playtime to improve my skills on Mario Kart and experiment with recording YouTube videos. It wasn’t until the successor Nintendo Wii U console (Released 2012 in North America) came out where I found a game that would change my life forever!

Splatoon 1 Era

Three years after the release of the Nintendo Wii U, a new IP was released on the console called “Splatoon”. After seeing the game trailers and Nintendo staff competing against one another in a short tournament that was uploaded to their YouTube channel, I knew I had to buy this game at launch.

Fast forward to 2017, I realized after playing Splatoon for a lengthy two years on the Wii U I had a natural skill and was seeking answers as to where I can showcase my talents. Near the end of the Splatoon 1 era (End of 2016), I communicated with other Nintendo users on the built in community platform called “Miiverse” to search for a team. This eventually led me to joining one of the first Splatoon communities on Discord which exposed me to many competitive Splatoon teams and online tournaments (A few in person tournaments at the time).

Splatoon 2 Era (Peak competitive journey)

In early 2017, Nintendo officially launched their new console called the “Nintendo Switch”. A few months later, the sequel to the Splatoon series (“Splatoon 2”) was launched to build on the first game. Due to the low sales of the Wii U console, many gamers around the world did not have the opportunity to play the game, or have knowledge the game existed. The Splatoon 2 era was the peak of my competitive gaming journey as I quickly rose to the top level of the video game in North America! I bounced around from a few teams in 2017 to figure out what team is the best fit for my playstyle.

Fast forward to April 2018, I formed a team with other free agents named "Duck Dolla Bill$" in which we placed 12th but lost in the top 16 round of the “North American Inkling Open 2018” (The winner of the 627 team tournament would represent North America in the Splatoon 2 World Championships 2018). After consecutive top placements in tournaments following the North American open, I was quickly catapulted to the elite competition in Splatoon within a short period of time. Many of the Splatoon tournament organizations were communicated through X (Formerly Twitter) to advertise major Splatoon tournaments occurring across North America.

2018-2019, the in-person major Splatoon tournament travels  

Smash n Splash 4, Wisconsin Dells, USA (June 1 - June 3, 2018)

In early summer of 2018, I decided to take the next step in my competitive video game journey by attending my first in-person Splatoon tournament called “Smash n Splash 4” at Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA. The event was incredible as it featured many of the top Splatoon teams during that time and the venue provided side vendors which showcased community art, crafts, merchandise and more! In addition to the competition, there were free to play stations for anybody wanting to play scrimmage Splatoon games in between sets or after competition hours! Since I was underage to drive to the venue from Canada, I asked one of my older cousins to drive me to Wisconsin Dells. Upon arrival at the Khalarhi Resorts, it was a perfect video game venue and the resort looked like a lot of fun! The building had plenty of activities to do such as water parks, mini golf, arcades, restaurants, and more!

I was extremely nervous when the tournament first started but I became more calm as the tournament progressed. Since my Duck Dolla Bill$ teammates could not attend, I searched for a last minute pickup team where we had 1 practice before travelling to the tournament. Our last minute pickup team did extremely well placing 13th out of 52 teams!

Long Island Summer Splat, New York, USA (Deer Park, August 24 - August 26, 2018)

Long Island Summer Splat 2018 (LISS) gave me the opportunity to travel to New York for the first time! I took a bus all the way from downtown Toronto to downtown New York that was nearly 24 hours in total (Including stops)! Many of the event participants stayed at the same hotel near the venue which made it easy to organize gatherings after tournament hours. Around the time of this tournament, my Duck Dolla Bill$ team slowly began to disband and became inactive. I continued to ride the wave I was on and competed in both online and in-person events, even if it meant playing on pickup teams frequently (Teams formed with players who do not regularly play together). Since the tournament was taking place on Long Island, it was difficult to plan trips with other participants to go touring New York City as the tournament schedule often runs most of the day.

My pickup team went on an amazing run to the Silver Bracket Finals but fell one game short losing 2-3 in a best 3 of 5 set. We finished at 10th place out of 20 teams at the tournament.

Squid Social Meetups, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2017 - 2019)

The main goal of the Squid Social events in Toronto were to bring together the Canadian Splatoon community that are both competitive and casual gamers. The Squid Social's were packed with a full day activities which included mini-tournaments and small prizes. This event was often hosted every 3 - 4 months and I always looked forward to hanging out with my local Splatoon friends. I still keep the custom made stickers some old Splatoon friends gave me on my Nintendo Switch dock!

Genesis 6, San Francisco, California, USA (Oakland, February 1 - February 3, 2019)

I still can't believe I solo travelled to San Francisco for a Splatoon tournament during my first year of College. In hindsight, I should have done more studying and preparation while I was travelling because I had a practical exam immediately after my trip. With that being said, I knew I couldn't pass up this opportunity because not only was this my first time visiting the west coast, but I got to compete in a fairly large tournament with many top Splatoon teams in attendance. This tournament was easily one of my favourite Splatoon trips because not only did I compete against the best competition, but I got to spend the afternoon and evening on day 2 outside of tournament hours to tour San Francisco with my friends. It was also an amazing experience to hangout with some top sponsored Splatoon players who joined us for the day touring. Our trip included exploring the waterfront festival grounds, mirror maze, and the steep hilly city streets of San Francisco.

Once again, I competed with a pickup team where I felt like I had one of my best performances in my competitive Splatoon career. I helped my team win a close best of 3 match in our final round robin match with a 20+ K/A game to clinch us a spot in the top 12 bracket. The last day of competition ended quickly as we got swept in round 1 of the top 12 bracket but I reminded my team that making the top bracket in any tournament is not an easy achievement and that should be viewed as a successful tournament considering we were a pickup team. We finished tied for 9th place out of 28 teams.

Smash n Splash 5, Wisconsin Dells, USA (Khalarhi Resorts, May 31 - June 2, 2019)

Similar to Smash n Splash 4, it was a dream come true to come back to Wisconsin Dells and compete in the annual tournament! The Splatoon tournament was marked the largest in-person tournament in North America at that time with 62 teams competing. About 40 teams were established teams in the scene and many pickups comprised of top players. This was also an emotional time for me because I announced on X (Formerly Twitter) that this may be my last tournament I will be competing in because I recently signed/committed to a Junior "A" hockey team for the 2019-2020 season. I was able to convince an original Duck Dolla Bill$ teammate, another former Duck Dolla Bill$ teammate that competed with me for 2 months, and a strong pickup player to play in this potential last tournament with me. We played under the name Duck Dolla Bill$ but realistically this was partly another pickup. I had strong expectations as I know what we were capable of and felt confident in at least placing within the top 8 teams. We had strong tournament and made it to the final day of competition playing in the top 24 bracket. Unfortunately we fell short of advancing to the top 8 bracket losing 2-3 in a best 3 of 5 match from the top 16 round. It was extremely heartbreaking for me because I had no idea when or if I would make a return to competitive Splatoon after committing to my hockey and academic careers.

Overall, I was happy we placed 13th out of 62 teams, which is something to be proud of with difficult competition showcasing the best of North America and some European teams. Another accomplishment in the tournament was that we were the only team to win a game against the eventual tournament winner "For the Whatt" aside from the finalist team! We also almost pulled off an unbelievable upset victory against a top sponsored team who eventually won third place in the tournament.

Splatoon 3 Era

Throughout the five years with Splatoon 2, I personally felt the competitive community was at its peak and I accomplished many competitive goals I wanted to achieve within that duration. In September of 2022, Splatoon 3 released on the Nintendo Switch to make the series a trilogy! Once Splatoon 3 launched, I was interested in playing the game, however since 2019, I haven’t competed in too many tournaments due to my academic pursuits and most in person tournaments were cancelled in the years 2020 - 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of the players I competed with in Splatoon 2 have moved on or lost interest, therefore making a return to where I left off was extremely difficult. Throughout 2020 - 2024, I discovered new passions and continued Post Secondary Education at College and University which took priority in my life. In early 2023, I formed a team with other former competitive players who retired in 2018 and 2019. Unfortunately the team could not be sustained due to busy life schedules and lost interest in competitive Splatoon. I did have some great 3rd place and 2nd place finishes after my lengthy time away from the competitive scene, however I once again stepped away from competitions for majority of 2024.   

Big Dapple 3, New York, USA (November 4, 2023)

Later in November of 2023, I decided to compete in my first in person Splatoon tournament in New York, USA since June of 2019 (About 4 and a half years). The tournament went well, as I was able to meet some old gaming friends that I haven’t seen in years and made new friends. Finishing 3rd place was an amazing achievement after all the time away from competitive Splatoon scene!

Moving Forward

Competing at the top level in Splatoon was not easy on top of completing high school, attending College/University and competing in Jr. A level hockey. Besides the stress of a busy life schedule, top level video gaming taught me how to travel solo, help me grow into the man I am today, make new friends from the expanding international community, and more! All these skills are transferable to everyday living and can contribute to future networking opportunities. E-Sports has come a long way from being negatively perceived by most people. As with anything, hobbies, interests, and life paths change over time. I am grateful for the enjoyable experiences I had competing at the top level in Splatoon! Moving forward I will continue to tell people about my competitive gaming experiences and hope to inspire others to take their video game skills as high as they can possibly go!

With the release of the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, 2025, I hope to continue my passion for video games and stream whenever I am available on Twitch and potentially YouTube. Competitive Splatoon 3 was difficult for me to come back to as I was completing my undergrad degree and graduate degree, but like I mentioned above, I hope to be involved with video games and the Splatoon community whenever I have free time.