Stronghold Article "NA League Event 7 Reg. Week 5" (#3084)

content/articles/na-league-2026-r5-e7.md

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+---
+title: "NA League 2026 Event #7 (Regular Season Week 5) "
+date: 2026-05-19
+author:
+   - name: YELLOW
+     link: https://sendou.ink/u/great-hero-yellow
+---
+
+#### *Milky Way’s brush with “forfeit”, both the team and the term*
+
+<img width="1200" height="675" alt="NAL2026-r5e7" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/e73c3684-698c-4bae-b2bd-4e05f4d5f530" />
+
+On Saturday, May 16, Nintendo’s Splatoon 3 North American League began its descent toward the end of the Regular Season. Any teams who start the League after this event will not be eligible for the Playoffs, as a minimum of four weeks are required to be played, and past this point, only three Regular Season weeks remain. 
+
+Jordan, Falco, and Cyren commentated this week’s Top Cut stream, covering the halfway point season standings. By the end of Event \#7, all of the teams in the top spots (that were shown at the start of the stream) will have played all four minimum-required weeks. The rankings after counting scores from Event \#6 last week looked like this: 
+
+1. Milky Way  
+2. Duck Motif  
+3. Content Cat  
+4. Hypernova  
+5. Ayanokoji  
+6. Moonlight  
+7. SIZA  
+8. lfn 
+
+Spots 6, 7, and 8 were all tied at 220 points, but of the three, Moonlight had only played three weeks of the Regular Season at the time of calculation. Spots 2 and 3 were also tied at 275 points, with Duck Motif pulling ahead of Content Cat due to having a higher total win count (37 vs. 34). 
+
+Looking ahead to the current week, these teams took top spots in the Ladder Round and made it to the Top Cut stream: 
+
+1. Milky Way  
+2. FORFEIT  
+3. Cream Soda  
+4. GO GO SAHUR  
+5. The Shiggy Wiggy  
+6. Swarm  
+7. Torracats  
+8. NME
+
+This week’s action was brought to viewers thanks to Power, on the spectator camera, showing the highlights of the 4+ hour stream. 
+
+## **Winner’s Finals: Milky Way vs. FORFEIT (1–3)**
+
+Winner’s Finals was preceded by Cream Soda vs. Swarm (3–0) in the quarterfinals and Milky Way vs. GO GO SAHUR (3–0) in the semifinals. In Loser’s Quarterfinals, it would be Cream Soda vs. NME and GO GO SAHUR vs. Swarm. 
+
+Splat Zones at Mahi-Mahi Resort kicked off the set. While Milky Way claimed the zone first, within 30 seconds they were wiped out, leading to FORFEIT taking the lead. Milky Way stopped FORFEIT’s score from bleeding too far to let them get the knockout, but they started overtime with a neutral zone and two players down, resulting in a win for FORFEIT regardless, 98–87. 
+
+Game two was Rainmaker at Museum d’Alfonsino. Milky Way cleared the checkpoint in under a minute, and a fortunate Rainmaker shield pop taking down two players on FORFEIT let them run it to 24\. FORFEIT struggled to keep players active, always seeming to go down two or three at a time, not clearing the checkpoint until 16 seconds remained. Milky Way won the game, 76–42.
+
+Tower Control at Hagglefish Market was a game decided by the slimmest margin, not once, but twice. Milky Way had the first lead, which FORFEIT narrowly surpassed by one point in the final 40 seconds. Fighting the clock, Milky Way rode the tower back into enemy territory. Pressed against FORFEIT’s score, 46–46, Milky Way was pushed back to 47 after being wiped out, ultimately losing 53–54.
+
+<img width="1000" height="562" alt="WF_TChagglefish" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f4a40185-a679-42f8-8071-b0a4e43ba5b6" />
+
+*FORFEIT takes the lead, using the threat of an Ultra Stamp to keep Milky Way’s attention off of the tower.*
+
+Turf War at Crableg Capital saw both teams walk in with near-identical comps, with Splat Dualies, Snipewriter 5H, and a REEF-LUX 450 variant. From early in the game, FORFEIT was in the Danger\! zone, but when it came to the critical last 30 seconds, Milky Way, caught in a delayed wipeout, had the tables flipped onto them and ended up in Danger\! They recovered in the last 8 seconds, but were just shy of the win, 48.1%–49.0%.
+
+## **Loser’s Semifinals: Cream Soda vs. GO GO SAHUR (1–3)**
+
+Loser’s Quarterfinals concluded with both Cream Soda winning over NME and GO GO SAHUR winning over Swarm in 3–2 sets. The victor was set to face Milky Way next. 
+
+The set began at Urchin Underpass for Tower Control. GO GO SAHUR cleared their first checkpoint in the first minute of the game and secured their path through the second by wiping out Cream Soda twice. Their push eventually ended at 7, before Cream Soda took any points. Cream Soda retaliated with a massive push of their own, reaching 14 by nearly wiping out their opponent, but couldn’t get further, finishing 86–93.
+
+Game two was Splat Zones at Crableg Capital. Cream Soda claimed the early advantage this time, getting to 69 before GO GO SAHUR took the zone and the lead before the first minute ended. Cream Soda came within three points of getting back in the lead, but a late Triple Splashdown was the start of a strained attempt to even leave their base. GO GO SAHUR won with a knockout.
+
+At Museum d’Alfonsino for Turf War, the players seemed more willing to fight than focus on the objective, leading to a Turf War that felt more fast-paced than usual. Cream Soda was in Danger\! in the first minute, but reversed that onto GO GO SAHUR in the last few seconds, for a decisive victory, 56.5%–41.8%.
+
+<img width="1000" height="562" alt="LSF_TWmuseum" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/1762aa69-d61b-4f9e-8f79-19b4ad6cd448" />
+
+*Both teams mirror weapon comps which consist of a Custom Blaster, Snipewriter 5H, Splat Dualies, and REEF-LUX 450 MIL-K.*
+
+Rainmaker at Inkblot Art Academy rounded out the set; again, both teams had a near-identical comp, with Splat Dualies, .96 Gal, and Custom Blaster. The game was rather sequential: GO GO SAHUR cleared the checkpoint. An Ink Vac let them swim the Rainmaker to 22\. A wipeout on Cream Soda let them get the safe knockout, to move ahead in the tournament.
+
+## **Loser’s Finals: Milky Way vs. GO GO SAHUR (3–0)**
+
+Loser’s Finals went by without flourish or fanfare—after a long wait for the set to begin, the commentators informed the viewers that GO GO SAHUR had “disqualified themselves” following Loser’s Semifinals. Their forfeit granted Milky Way an automatic 3–0 in Loser’s Finals and a swift ticket to Grand Finals for another FORFEIT (the team). 
+
+## **Grand Finals: FORFEIT vs. Milky Way (1–3)**
+
+…And so Grand Finals followed Loser’s Semifinals, the interlude between Milky Way and FORFEIT’s soon-to-be twelve games against one another this week. 
+
+The action returned with Tower Control at Museum d’Alfonsino. The game slowly warmed up, from Milky Way taking two minutes to clear the first checkpoint of the game, to them clearing the next soon after. FORFEIT didn’t get any points to their name until the last minute. Without time to build momentum, FORFEIT lost 46–72.
+
+The teams repeated Splat Zones at Mahi-Mahi Resort, right down to the one-point score difference determined in overtime. Milky Way’s Triple Inkstrikes were the hero of the game, constantly used to retake the zone from FORFEIT. FORFEIT was in the lead at overtime; the zone went neutral, and both teams were down two players. Milky Way splatted all of FORFEIT’s players cyclically, ensuring they could take the lead, 97–96. 
+
+Then they repeated Turf War at Crableg Capital with the same weapons. This time, while Milky Way was still in Danger\! for a significant portion of the game, they only lost the status right near the end, but it wasn’t enough to win. They struggled all game to even leave their base, losing 45.2%–51.2%.
+
+<img width="1000" height="562" alt="GF_TWcrableg" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/595e8293-bfb1-4d71-9c66-d4ea40d9ac78" />
+
+*Power’s spec cam catches a moment of lightning-fast thinking from bran, who re-paints the ink rail yellow to stop Rumi, mid-jump, from being able to escape, resulting in a pivotal splat.*
+
+Clam Blitz, for the first and only time on stream, appeared at Scorch Gorge. Milky Way scored first, to 51; the commentators praised this strong opening, setting up for commentator’s curse to strike: FORFEIT’s first push saw them get all the way to 19\. Milky Way scored a second time, but only to 37\. Both teams were down by half in overtime. Milky Way scored, cut down FORFEIT, and barely took the win, 82–81.
+
+Milky Way winning the set 3–1 meant that the stream moved to a Grand Finals Reset\!
+
+## **Grand Finals Reset: FORFEIT vs. Milky Way (3–1)**
+
+Not done repeating Winner’s Finals, the Grand Finals Reset started with a Tower Control rematch at Hagglefish Market. Milky Way struggled to keep players up, always seeming to be down at least one. FORFEIT was able to get up to the second checkpoint; Milky Way’s final minute saw them race against the clock to contest the lead, but weren’t able to get far past the first checkpoint, losing 41–62.
+
+<img width="1000" height="562" alt="GFR_TChagglefish" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/82c1e330-a318-4296-a6a9-797eed625e6a" />
+
+*Bran’s trade with Rumi saved Milky Way from a potential knockout, as FORFEIT lost their opportunity to jump in while Milky Way was stuck respawning.*
+
+Turf War returned, at MakoMart this time. Fortune was not on FORFEIT’s side, as they were under Danger\! within 30 seconds, and stayed that way for most of the game. Constantly at the numbers disadvantage, but still able to put up a fight, the final score was 55.0%–40.1%, to Milky Way, tying the set.
+
+That ill fortune was reversed onto Milky Way for Rainmaker at Scorch Gorge. Milky Way was left with one player standing more than once in the first minute, just barely able to stop FORFEIT at 10\. They were finally able to get out of their base in the last stretch to clear their first checkpoint with 9 seconds remaining, only to be sent back to spawn in a delayed wipeout, losing 32–90.
+
+Splat Zones at Undertow Spillway was Milky Way’s last chance to keep the tournament run alive. They capped the zones first, taking their score as far as 48 in one push before FORFEIT applied penalty points. Halfway through the clock, FORFEIT claimed the lead, and were stopped at just 12 ticks to KO. Milky Way brought the game into overtime, but FORFEIT overwhelmed them to take the last victory, 88–76.
+
+<img width="1000" height="562" alt="r5e7_finalbracket" src="https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/9c19e95d-5f45-407a-a228-2601332d87fc" />
+
+For the third week in a row, the event ended in a Grand Finals Reset. With a majority of the teams most anticipated to make it to the Playoffs having now participated in four weeks of Regular Season events, will the next week see a refreshed roster? Or will teams continue to push their highest scores to make their ticket to Playoffs definitive? 
+
+Strong contenders like FTWin, NME, and Cream Soda still need more weekly events under their belt to qualify, so we have an inkling of what’s to come for the last three weeks of the Splatoon 3 North American League. 
+
+Make sure you’re there to see it\!
+
+Original Posting Date: May 19, 2026 at [Splatoon Stronghold](https://www.splatoonstronghold.com/news/na-league-2026-e7-rs5).
+
+Written and formatted for publication by [YELLOW](https://bsky.app/profile/great-hero-yellow.bsky.social).