Nintendo Crowns The Winners Of Splatoon 3's 'Enter The Splatlands' Tournament

PAX West 2022 hosted the first ever Splatoon 3 invitational tournament earlier this week, where some of the best players from around the world came together to shoot, slosh, splat and roll their way to victory. As the first marker of Splatoon 3's competitive play (in a professional sense, of course) the tournament would set the first notch on who is the team to beat in the upcoming Nintendo threequel.

After a series of well-fought matches, Nintendo officially crowned team Starburst the top dog of the tournament. The victors out-splatted three other top-ranked teams to take home the coveted Judd and Li’l Judd trophy — now that's quite the mantlepiece addition.

Our wonderful video producer, the lovely Zion, was at the event and managed to get the following Splat-tastic photos. Check out the gallery below to see the winning team in action, as well as a close-up look at the trophy detail. We don't know about you, but doesn't the bronze statue (top of the page) look much cooler than the gold?

In other PAX West news, the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Championship Cup 2022 invitational also got off the start line, with 12 racers shelling to be dubbed the best. Competing over eight different races, Strike eventually finished in pole position and was crowned the champion.

A huge congratulations to all winners and to our Zion for the slick snaps. See you all in the Splatlands on September 9th!

Are you a championship-level Splatter? Drop your skills in the comments!

Further reading:

• Where To Pre-Order Splatoon 3 On Nintendo Switch
• Nintendo VS At PAX West - Live!