Koshimizu Toru’s Team Advances in Fourth After Five Teams Tie at Three Wins

NIJISANJI — Koshimizu Toru, Sophia Valentine, Umise Yotsuha and Nagao Kei, playing together as Neochi Samba (寝落ちサンバ), finished fourth in B League of the Day 1 qualifier at #NijiIka Matsuri 2026, a Nijisanji tournament played in Splatoon 3 (スプラトゥーン3), and advanced to the main bracket. Five of the group’s 12 teams ended level on three wins with four places left, and the standings came only after the staff finished a long tally.

Each matchup was a best-of-three against one of five opponents. Neochi Samba swept its first two, winning its opener 2-0 across a Splat Zones game and a Tower Control game, then taking its second 2-0 as well. Chat pointed to Sophia’s staying power in a tight Splat Zones game of that second match, which was decided by a fully charged Booyah Bomb (ナイス玉).

“We’ll break all of it together. We’ll break this tournament.” — Nagao Kei, in a pre-match interview

The run slowed in the third match, a loss, before the team won its fourth. It lost the final match 2-0 to a team that had been unbeaten up to then, which left the team waiting on the tally. Before play began, Nagao, who also organized the event, had told the broadcast the team would ‘break’ the tournament, and the group spent the gaps between matches on private-lobby kill games and aim drills.

Chat spent much of the afternoon chanting ‘Neochi Samba WIN’ and sent a run of Super Chats congratulating the team once the placing was announced.

Day 2 is double elimination and starts at 2 p.m. the next day, guaranteeing the team at least two more matches. Toru and the others said they would practice again that night off stream.