Splatoon 3 continues to grow in popularity and of course with this comes an influx of new players. The game can be overwhelming at first just due to the sheer amount of content and different modes and playstyles. Theres also been a lot changed for the veterans too as many modes have received substantial alterations. Splatoon content creation has also exploded in popularity with many streams, videos and guides popping up all over. Today at KeenGamer we would like to present an exclusive interview into one of Splatoon‘s most high quality creators, Brian!
Brian, also known as BrianTheDrumer on Twitter, is a huge part of the Splatoon community with him being a very well known competitive player. He regularly streams either Salmon Run or competitive gameplay on his Twitch which is always a joy to watch! Not only is he a quality Splatoon content creator but also creates fun videos on games such as Hollow Knight. I highly recommend checking out a few of his videos or even streams as they are always such a blast! He is also an amazing drummer, Brian is just talented at so many things and really deserves more appreciation!
Brian is used a lot as a reference point for the competitive scene and especially with Salmon Run. Brian and his friends hold the current world record for most Golden Eggs in one shift with an insane amount of 241! They also held it back in Splatoon 2 but with the additions in Splatoon 3 Brian’s teamwork and gameplay has gone from being incredible to an insane spectacle. Brian even introduced a new concept called Overfishing where in Salmon Run you surpass the quota as much as you can. This all relies on good teamwork and strategy as it all comes down to the coordination and collection of those prized Golden Eggs.
He really is a stand out player in the scene and we hope this interview helps you in both your own Splatoon gameplay and getting to know Brian better!
Looking to improve your splatting even more? Check some our other Splatoon content!
- Splatoon 3: An Interview With Head Tournament Organiser Popgun
- Splatoon 3: Table Turf Battle Guide
- Splatoon 3: How To Get More Conch Shells and All Shell-Out Machine Rewards
The 241 record!
KeenGamer – A warm welcome to Brian! Introduce us to you, what makes that legendary mind tick?
Brian – Hello, my name is Brian and I enjoy Splatoon way too much. To elaborate, I’ve been a competitive player since the release of Splatoon 1 and performed at the highest level since. Including winning major events, achieving the longest Splatoon 2 LAN win streak under Ghost Gaming and one of the few to ever win against a Japanese team in a major event. And later in Splatoon 2 I’ve also enjoyed taking down fish as a side job (Salmon Run). I’m one of the founders of the Overfishing server, the first public hub focused on Overfishing to help people get introduced to it.
KG – You have made a big impact on the Splatoon community so how did you get introduced to Splatoon and what interested you most about the game?
Brian – I got introduced to Splatoon for the first time back on the first release in 2015. Similar to I believe is the case for many people, I never played a shooter before this. But looking at the game I just loved the movement options that you provide yourself with through the ink that you shoot, it just genuinely looked really fun to play. Although, I had to carefully consider if I really wanted to buy the game because I didn’t have a Wii U yet. So it wasn’t as simple as just buying a game. But in the end I think it’s fair to say I made a wise choice.
KG – Over the years you have had a very long history with the competitive scene, how did you get into competitive and do you have any advice for new players looking to get into it?
Brian – My entrance into competitive was a bit… unusual to say the least haha. I didn’t play the game with competitive intentions in mind, largely because I’ve never been much of a competitive player before that. Definitely not when it comes to games. Unfortunately none of the friends I knew played the game, after all it wasn’t famous considering its launch on the Wii U system. But, I enjoyed it so much that I just kept playing Turf War day in day out. Yeah Turf War, as weird as it may sound that was the only available thing for a while.
Regardless, over time I made friends through these Turf Wars, which did include some amount of Squid Parties haha. Some of the early friends I made were Wiesel and Lean, to name a few of many. Wiesel was a bit special, since just like me they were a big fan of charger, and we both felt very impressed by each others sniping abilities, which is how we became friends. It led to this healthy rivalry of joining each other in turf whenever possible and pushing the limit of us both. All of which only happened through little bits of communication through Miiverse.
This eventually led to Wiesel asking me if I wanted to make a team with them, and not much later the team Creme Fresh was born. A team that would last all the way into Splatoon 2 and introduce me to many friends and great memories. I couldn’t have asked for any better entrance into such a new competitive environment. With that in mind, nowadays there’s many more effective ways of joining the competitive scene, especially compared to just Miiverse haha. So if there’s anything I can recommend is don’t be afraid to take that first step into the competitive scene. It’s not as scary as it might seem, and who knows what kind of experiences you’ll end up with.
KG – Recently you have been streaming a lot of Salmon Run and in the past you even made guides for Splatoon 2‘s version of the mode, what is it about SR you enjoy?
Brian – Admittedly it’s worth noting that I didn’t actually feel that much for Salmon Run back in Splatoon 2. As people might know my heart really lied with competitive PvP play instead. However, one day as I was quite literally waiting for a tournament set I decided to do a game of SR since I figured why not it’s been a while. By pure chance, I ran into a game of Hazard Level Max, the highest difficulty in SR. In other words, I was put with players who then knew way more about the mode than I did. As a result I could get little glimpses of the strategies they used and gain a sense of the depth that really lies in the mode. It made me curious as there was more going on than I thought there was, and so after spending some time with it afterwards I’ve really enjoyed it since.
KG – Since you enjoy both SR and competitive, do you prefer SR to regular modes? Why and why not?
Brian – As fun as SR is, I’ve always had a preference for regular modes. It’s what I started with, but it’s above all the dynamic nature of competitive play that I find attractive. When it comes to SR it’s much more about optimization as you’re dealing with pre-programmed behaviour of bosses. There’s of course many layers to this which is what gives SR the depth it has, which can be enjoyed in its own way. But to me I’ve always had a slight preference to the more dynamic aspect of this game in regular modes, as well as the additional mental factors that come with it as you play against other people.
KG – Splatoon 3 brings many changes and additions to SR. How do these feel to you?
Brian – Unsurprisingly this is the biggest overhaul on SR we’ve seen since its release, and generally I’m very happy with what they changed to the mode. The new maps are really well designed, in my opinion already competing for the best SR maps. And of course other additions like egg throwing, new bosses and night waves are great too, as well as other minor but important changes they made, like snatchers to name one. Big changes to a PvE mode are always a raise of concern as it has the potential to remove strategic depth, which is often not what you want due to the already predictive nature. So it’s glad to see the opposite being true
KG – What are your favourite things about SR in Splatoon 3?
Brian – My favourite change is definitely the day waves. To me the day waves are by far the most interesting part of SR. Partly because of their complexity, but also because I feel it does a good job of teaching players the fundamentals, which includes learning things that can be applied to night waves. Although, these day waves generally provide less Golden Eggs than night waves. Which lowered the interest players had on this important wave type. However, in Splatoon 3 the Golden Eggs, and more importantly the complexity, of day waves has increased which is great to see. It has made this great part of SR even better, and hopefully further shows players the importance of it.
KG – Do you have any tips you would like to share about SR and the regular modes for new players?
Brian – Be prepared to change your perception on the game. Splatoon in general is a complex game, and in the case of SR things only got more crazy. As such, if you’re looking to grow as a player you need to be willing to accept that this game will throw curveballs at you that do not align with your understanding of the game. Anyone able to face this can allow the interesting depth of this game to not turn into frustration, but instead become an enjoyable learning experience.
KeenGamer greatly apreciates Brian for his time and his Ink-credible responses! This interview is very special as with the Splatoon scene growing us die-hard Splatoon fans really want to give you new players a warm welcome to the community. We hope that this interview can help you in improving your skills and understanding of the game. We encourage you to go check out Brian’s content as his personality and skill cannot be found elsewhere! Thank you to Brian and Lezuna793 for allowing KeenGamer to use the commissioned art as the cover image.
