Stronghold Article: Qualifier 1 - The Road To Splat World Series (#2466)

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+---
+title: "Qualifier 1 - The Road to Splat World Series"
+date: 2025-07-22
+author:
+   - name: YELLOW
+     link: https://sendou.ink/u/great-hero-yellow
+---
+Article originally posted on the [Splatoon Stronghold](https://www.splatoonstronghold.com/news/qualifier-1-the-road-to-splat-world-series) website.
+
+
+# **Qualifier 1 - The Road to Splat World Series**
+
+On Saturday, July 19, 2025, Inkling Performance Labs (IPL) held their second of three Competitive Splatoon 3 tournaments to determine which teams would represent the West at the Splat World Series in August. This event, Qualifier 1, followed SuperJump 5 and precedes Qualifier 2, which will be held on Saturday, July 26, at 10 AM PT / 1 PM ET / 7 PM CET. 
+
+Qualifier 1 saw 38 teams partake in the Splat Zones-only tournament – only the top two teams from this event would earn their place at Splat World Series, unlike SuperJump 5, where the top four teams earned their spot. The same will be true for Qualifier 2, which will also be another Splat Zones-only tournament to decide the last two teams for the Western roster. 
+
+The tournament was a little unusual in that the Grand Finals set was not played – the top two teams were determined from the winners of the Winner’s Bracket and the Loser’s Bracket. 
+
+## **Winner’s Bracket Finals \- FTWin vs. Moonlight** 
+
+A highly anticipated match from the Sendou.ink tournament forecast, the Winner’s Finals saw FTWin and Moonlight, seeds \#1 and \#2, in a best of five. The set would go all the way up to a game five, but the final score would be 3-2, going to FTWin, with Moonlight being sent to the Loser’s Bracket. 
+
+These players made up FTWin’s roster for Qualifier 1: 
+
+- \[K\]yo\!  
+- sam   
+- \<3 rafe  
+- Burstie  
+- Shak
+
+FTWin was a powerful presence in Qualifier 1, not losing any matches until Winner’s Finals, even against teams like BADVXLLIAN and New Meta, who also displayed dominating performances in their sets. 
+
+The first match of Winner’s Finals took place on MakoMart and ended in a knockout victory for Moonlight. The next match, on Museum d’Alfonsino, let FTWin tie the score with their own knockout. FTWin would win the next match on Moonlight’s counterpick to Bluefin Depot 90-60, and be followed by another Moonlight knockout on Barnacle & Dime. The game five, set on FTWin’s counterpick, Urchin Underpass, would give them the final knockout of the set.  
+
+Since no Grand Finals set was played, FTWin also earned themselves an early release from the tournament, and a secured \#5 spot on the West’s roster for Splat World Series\! 
+
+## **Loser’s Bracket Finals \- Moonlight vs. Fruittella**
+
+Loser’s Bracket Finals was not the first time Moonlight saw Fruittella during Qualifier 1, having also faced them in Winner’s Semi-Finals, where Moonlight won 3-0 against Fruittella in an odd set where a match was replayed despite the tournament rules stating that the replay would be invalid due to a player disconnect happening outside of the grace period. In the Loser’s Bracket Finals, Moonlight would win again with a final score of 3-1. 
+
+Moonlight’s Qualifier 1 roster was composed of: 
+
+- Omega  
+- Basil   
+- SSNolan  
+- Shadowind  
+- ProChara
+
+Every match in Loser’s Bracket Finals had viewers on the edge of their seats–the matches either ended in a knockout victory or were just one point away from the match going to either team. In the first match, Moonlight repeated their Winner’s Finals result on Barnacle & Dime with a knockout victory over Fruittella. Fruittella would counterpick to Flounder Heights next and win with a very close 68-67 score. Moonlight would knockout again on their counterpick to Mahi-Mahi Resort. Game four went down to the wire on Humpback Pump Track, with points and seconds ticking down for Fruittella to inch past Moonlight for a win, but at the very last possible moment, Moonlight was able to flip the zone in their favor and find victory in a final score of 79-78. 
+
+With Moonlight winning the Loser’s Bracket Finals and no Grand Finals set to give them the runback against FTWin, Qualifier 1 ended with Moonlight earning the sixth spot on the West’s team for SWS\! 
+
+## **The West’s Roster So Far**
+
+Six teams have sealed their spots on the West’s roster for the Splat World Series in August. Since SuperJump 5 took place in late June, a few changes have been made to a couple of qualifying teams; the current roster so far is: 
+
+\#1 \- PxG   
+\#2 \- Milky Way (formerly played as Milk Duds at SuperJump 5\)  
+\#3 \- Hypernova (originally \#4)  
+\#4 \- FreeFlow (replacing \#3 Vanguard)  
+\#5 \- FTWin  
+\#6 \- Moonlight
+
+Teams \#7 and \#8 will be decided at Qualifier 2 on Saturday, July 26, 2025\! 
+
+### **FreeFlow** 
+
+Vanguard, who was originally the third team to qualify for Splat World Series at SuperJump 5, would not be able to play at the SWS Finals, so their spot was passed to the runner-up team from SuperJump 5: FreeFlow. FreeFlow’s team is made up of: 
+
+- JJaeigh  
+- swish  
+- Cakes  
+- Adapt  
+- Parx
+
+## **Japan’s Roster So Far**
+
+IPL has been putting out trailers to introduce each team to the community; these videos also serve as the announcement of each team from Japan that has earned their place at SWS. We currently know of six teams on Japan’s roster, so let’s take a look at who they are\! 
+
+### **\#1 \- DragonREX**
+
+* Momo  
+* Norishio  
+* Kotaji  
+* KinoChannel
+
+### **\#2 \- Utopia**
+
+* Kyamyi   
+* Art   
+* Niru   
+* Rubytan 
+
+### **\#3 \- Takoyaki Party**
+
+* Rusu   
+* Todo  
+* Kontan   
+* Okura
+
+### **\#4 \- False Dream**
+
+* Takenoko  
+* Shuman  
+* kou   
+* Wolbo 
+
+### **\#5 \- The Invincible Fleet Reimaru**
+
+* Lobster   
+* Grandroll   
+* Naegora   
+* Reimaru
+
+### **\#6 \- Samurai Cat**
+
+* Munya   
+* Samurai Kasato   
+* Suemaru   
+* Hitokuchi Taberu 
+
+IPL will continue to release these trailers for both Japanese and Western teams, so keep an eye out in these last few weeks before the Splat World Series Finals kicks off on Saturday, August 2nd at 5 AM PT / 8 AM ET / 2 PM CET / 9 PM JT. There will be streams in both English and Japanese for this event, so don’t miss it\! 
+
+Original Posting Date: July 22, 2025
+
+Written and formatted for publication by [YELLOW](https://bsky.app/profile/great-hero-yellow.bsky.social).