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At least Bluefin deop the zone moves slightly closer to the spawn of the team with out control

What I want to see for zones in S4 would be to remove the single zones. Double zones and the moving zone on bluefin make it more interesting. With double zones you have to stop two from being taken which is a lot harder than one massive zone. And bluefin just makes it more interesting fighting on the different sides of the map.

FINALLY someone who doesn’t act like zones is the best mode ever i never really liked zones tbh :/ it just feels so bland

Yes thank you! I hate zones so much lol! Easily the worst mode imo… and for many of the reasons you stated, tho I also believe spawncamping enabled by the map designs themselves is the reason “cheese specials” are even needed or viable. It was bad in past games, and it’s even worse in this game. I could never bring myself to play zones in anarchy series-I’m not gonna risk my rank on that garbage mode lol! Yes, the mode being passive and having to go all the way to the middle to stop the count while all the other team has to do is spawn camp-or even simply nothing-is absolute garbage and easily the biggest flaw in any mode. It most definitely is evident that this was the first mode they made as it is so bad-and the kicker is that in 9 years it’s the only mode that’s never been reworked at all lol! The best idea I believe I’ve ever come up with to salvage the mode would be to rework the mode to have checkpoints. The main zone in the middle would count for like 40 points, while two smaller checkpoint zones further into the enemy spawn that you have to keep control over in addition to the middle zone to continue to score points would be worth like 30 each (if someone slipped around the enemy team and took control of the middle zone while they’re counting down a checkpoint zone, the defending team would gain control and the enemy team have to go deal with that). This would make the mode more like all the other modes in that it has checkpoints and a reason to have to push up, which also makes comebacks for the team behind easier since you have to spread out and control more area of the map actively. Simply holding a team back from the middle is not enough to definitively deserve a win-a mode that ends in KO 80% of the time is inherently not a good mode. Having to hold the team all the way back while pushing up and being spread across the map? Much more fair, and KO’s much more deserved. Any thoughts on all this? Thanks for reading! (P.S. A zones only tournament sounds like torture I’d never play one of those lol!)

Imo instead of reducing shot speed - reduce its range a bit. It still functipns to reduce overall paint output but it also decreases how opressive the weapon is into opposing backlines. By reducing cooler output, it increases competition in the cooler slot. By being less oppressive and a less favorable cooler pick, it increases competition in the backline slot as well.

I think I'll comment on the cheese strats stuff because I think what wasn't mentioned is that the other modes have cheese too. Tower control has bubble to block for points (on check you can put it on the sides of tower to avoid the extra hp drain, or strikes to guarantee no overtime push by clearing tower for +5 seconds. Rainmaker has kraken to guard grabs uncontested for 8 seconds or force extra points, vac to run rainmaker in, bubble for checkpoints. Clams Kraken cheese actually still works if you wait out the endlag (it is a lot worse though), and while slider can't cross the stage it can also skip a path to the basket to give jumps. Basically there's no way getting around objective cheese for any of the ranked modes (turf war has none though) But I would argue zones has the easiest job fixing this, slider is solved with an ability ban and strike a small painting nerf. To clarify I'm not saying cheese isn't a problem, I'm saying it's not a zones only issue. I've seen tower control be brought up a bit more to try out recently so there's a chance we see something new at higher level play, but it's a bit early to say.

There are several challenges which take place in Zones (namely the Inkjet and Splat Bomb ones) where matches always end far too quickly because of how easy it is to keep a lockout on Zones.

Holy shit your just like me, finally someone who isn't glazing Zones acting like it's amazing in this game. Don't get me wrong I loved it in previous games. But Zones in this game feels like Rainmaker in S2, games will end immediately if you die twice, the mode constantly makes you rush, with the one difference being you gotta run into mid with little to no map or paint control and take the zone back with the whole team setup, rather than them coming to you and being able to stop them by just sharking or cutting them off. I think most of hate on modes is completely overexaggerated, but Zones usually gets none of it. I don't even think the western community is capable of going Zones only, they can't agree on anything. Definitely getting a sub.

YO I JUST KNOCKED OUT ON PICKLE HUG IN ZONES AND GOT TOP 500

4:01 happened to me before and is quite literally why i just took a two break month from the game,losing to solo zones cheese strats is just the worst feeling ever and worst thing to grace this game

Thank you! People complain about specials that don't have much interaction, but in terms of modes I feel like zones is the one that has the least fun interaction with the actual objective.

Clam blitz is the worst but I like tower control

Clams actually has cheese: You can Reefslider in front of the basket and give jumps - also, Vac can cheese Zone too

hot take: aerospray or jr on zones can be viable

The issue isn't zones. It's splatoon 3 terrible maps. When almost all of the maps have 0 flank routes/side routes, and just try to funnel and trap everyone into mid, yeah, special cycling is gonna be the main strat since it's the only reliable and safe option. All the modes have suffered due to the bad maps. Splat zones just suffered the least, as the other modes border on being unplayable on a lot of the maps in this game. Tower and Rain especially.

I LOVE TOWER CONTROL TOWER FOR THE DOUBLE U TOWER CONTROL HAS ZERO FLAWS WHATSOEVER ANYOTHER MODE IS HOT TRASH AND I HATE IT TOWER CONTROL IS THE ONLY PLAYABLE MODE (:

I heard the benefit of SZ are the variety of comps and weapons that are viable. Unlike CB and RM which heavily favor fast, high DPS comps.

I've always hated Splat Zones and everybody always tells me "You just don't know how to play the game, you like Clam Blitz because there's literally no coordination (the irony)". I think Solo Queue Zones is so flawed. Most everyone plays in shallow base or mid and it's hard to take back the zone without a quad or triple.

It's impossible to nerf Nova's fire rate to be faster than it is but slower than Splash. Nova fires every 6 frames, Splash fires every 5.

Always remember that they added spawn launchers to "get you back into the fight faster" then proceded to make them needlessly further than the old spawns.

1:07 they actually made it so it doesn’t camp zone

The thing with Zones in 3 is that 3 is too fast for Zones. The timer counts down so fast because most of the match is supposed to be contested or working down the penalty, with both teams setting up defensive lines and not letting the enemy through. But because of Cooler, 3 is too aggressive and wipeouts are not uncommon, and a wipeout in Zones is a death sentence even with the Cooler bonus. Plus specials in general are too strong, so they get slinged around left and right.

thank you. every other mode is dependent on the players pushing and actually doing stuff. Yet with zones, you just cap zone, get kills, spam specials, repeat. Especially if you get teammates that just feed, you can't do anything. It's a nightmare.

idk, man. A lot of these points (especially the first one) kinda just seem like your opinion. It's fine to just say you don't like the mode, but framing the mode as "poorly designed" because of your own personal experience seems a bit close-minded. Also, no, people talk about their problems with zones all the time. It's probably the mode I see the most hate towards online, especially now that zones-only is the average tourney format. I have my own gripes with the mode (mainly zones cheese), but I don't think two specials with not-so-great designs are enough to call a mode "bad".

as someone who has been grinding solo queue zones in japan, (2642 xp) and plays zones only formats in tourney and scrims, I never feel the stress of the counter and zones feels like the most skillful mode out of all of them, its simple, cap zone(s) diff the other team and hold, on defense you spam bomb and take advantage of people pushing you, the only thing thats bad about the mode is strikes and slider being prominent, besides that the mode is by far the best in the game

I only like splat zones because every other mode is hell in solo,in tower no one rides the tower,rainmaker I’m always having to get the rainmaker (while I’m a frontline player,meant to protect the carrier!) and clam blitz is….clam blitz. And even though the others suck,it’s honestly not that fun if you aren’t a frontline player. (I play chargers and splatanas,and can basically only play splatanas for zones.)

how can people say zones is the best mode when tower control exists? 😤

I hope they add a new mode in splat 4, but if they don’t I will be perfectly fine with duos or something like that.

I think you'll struggle to find anyone who thinks zones cheese is good, but I think that some of it is more attributed to poor balance rather than poor design. Reef in particular was just taken in the wrong direction and it sucks. However, I think it's important to note that variety is key, both in what you're arguing for tournaments, but also for the game as a whole. Yes, the zone doesn't move, yes the mode is more special centric, but if you really think about it, most of the modes are. The whole game/meta is focused on using specials to give you an advantage- that's literally their point. I think zones (minus cheese) is perfectly fine as it is because it's a different experience than the other modes. Clams has you gather things around the map to score in the opponents base. BOTH rainmaker and tower are just "bring this thing to this location over time". Zones is unique because it's about control of a location, and that's okay. It offers a unique challenge and it means you need to think about it slightly differently, making more gameplay variety. Also as an extra note, most tournaments that I know of DO have a limited map list for teams to use/ban from, whether it's zones only or not, also adding variety in gameplay.

Bro just described every reason why zones is my least favorite ranked mode

I actually really like the CCA’s method. 5 predetermined map/modes, 2 of them are zones, and you strike 2 (it’s Bo3). That way, if you just want to play zones, you can strike the other stuff (mostly), but if you want to play the other modes you can

As mostly a solo queue zones player, I like how zones is stationary (minus bluefin but that stage kinda sucks). Zones cheese is definitely a problem though, 100% agree with you on that. I think the reason why zones only tournaments are so popular are that tournaments like area cup have stayed so long that a lot of comp players mostly look at that because it is one of the biggest and consistent tournaments. (I also like watching the vods later)

Not only the special spam, but losing a fight in zones is probably the most punishing in any of the modes. You die and have to respawn, in that time you lose most of your special, your enemy gains map control and most likely gets their special, and now not only do you have to have to traverse half of the map just to get to the objective, but its all gonna be covered in enemy ink so the chance of you getting sharked is super high. And even if you get a pick, the enemy team will just respond with the specials they have. And in zones if you lose two fights, the timer ticks down so fast, you probably already lost if you didnt contest the zone. Whoever has control of the zones just has a HUGE attackers advantage, as they can spend every resource just preventing you from getting to the zone in the first place. Thats why in solo queue I prefer tower control. Having someone have to physically be on a moving objective not only means more of the map is actually used and designed choke points get used properly at checkpoints, but also that you have to actually keep the objective in mind and position yourself in a vulnerable spot (the tower) to get points. You can't just get the objective and then focus on just fighting. There’s still some cheesy specials like kraken or something, but I feel like its way more fair then reefslider or ink strike.

Over time i realized the maps make SZ sooo much worse. The point of zones is to get farther ahead so the enemy team doesnt affect you AND the zone. But on some maps its basically just lock out the entire time or that there are no good places to hold from. It all devolves back to maps, doesn't it..

Reminder that this is my OPINION. I'm willing to argue in a civilized manner in replies.

The Big swig changes destroys its identity. The weapon is already good, it just need a kit like fizzy/cooler

Zones is my least favorite, clams is my absolute favorite. Fight me

These pencil nerfs are whack, just repeating the machine situation

Ultrakill ost plus splatoon and w opinion this is a peak video

I also want to add in soloq zones a lot off the time people play longer range weapons that paint well just too safely paint the zone from a distance and rarely ever move. The game basically becomes a war of attrition off painting zone. zones is still one off the more consistently enjoyable modes but still has problems

I stopped watching JP streamers because all they do is play zones and it seems most content is about that boring ass mode. I'm Clam Blitz biased. And you know, Clam Blitz has been done dirty because the matchmaking is flawed. People in X rank waste pity clams, make super clams before they're half the way into the rival's basket, etc. If only there was a way to be assured your teammates know not to hold super clams all the time because it literally reveals their positions.

slider cheese actually does exist in clams. being able to give jumps at the basket for free because of its invincibility. i'm pretty sure it was also used during the kings tourney for clams yesterday. clams also plays very slowly at top level, as opposed to the other 3 modes

Finally someone mentioned everything I was thinking. 4:05 also I’m so glad you talked about this, because I stopped watching comp Splatoon because they only play zones and it’s SO BORING. Another point I’d argue is with them only playing zones, there is barely any variety in team comps. Do you know how many times I’ve seen the same comp of slosher, Range blaster, pencil, and splattershot, there’s just no variety. Great video👍🏾

In competitive I basically have to agree with you word for word. I understand Zones is the best mode but having it as the only one def gets old In Solo I have a bit of a different issue though. Since Zones is the competitively favored mode, sometimes I avoid particularly good Zones rotations, because I KNOW comp players are gonna be active during those, and matchmaking will throw me in those same lobbies Rotations in other modes can be a lot more fun as a result I also just think that Zones is significantly more prone to Spawn locks due to the way the mode is designed, since you have to always make your way to mid instead of the objective moving closer to you (though the tower special advantage makes this close) Occasional gimmick zones only tournaments are fine but having it be the only mode for most tournaments is a bit much imo

Ngl I rather play CB than Zones. Instant Take Over is just painful especially when it’s overtime and then you see that cursed Tristrike or reef. Solo Zones 😭

I honestly think zones is the worst mode because it’s the only one where players don’t have to be actively doing something with the objective in order to score points which makes it easy to just win one team fight at the start of the match and then just lock the other team in spawn due to some of the bad maps where it’s basically impossible to retake. In all the other modes at least one player has to be on the objective in order to get points making retaking easier. Clam blitz may be the worst mode for solo queue but if you have even just one other person to play it with in a call then I think it’s probably the best mode because it has the most opportunities for retaking and is less likely to get a ko in one push so you actually get to play the game instead of waiting to get a match only to basically immediately be sent back to the queue after losing one team fight and not being able to get back in.

Zones is the least fun mode in the game this video has been long overdue

THANK YOU!! I agree that zones cheese kind of ruins the mode and I do hate the repetitiveness of watching zones only. I am a believer that the other modes (especially clams) are just as good on specific maps so I think we should work around it like that;probably prioritise zones all modes tournaments are the way to go!