/otter/


 * "Out of all the boards I've seen in my life, this is the only one that makes complete sense to me."
 * &mdash; Anonymous

Otters are good at diving, but can they do it in the grass? This small but vicious board's team is still trying to prove that they can.

History
The first evidences of the existence of otters as we know them today occurred in the Middle Miocene, from 11 to 15 million years ago. In the year 2018, they got their own board for the first time. Having first established themselves quite successfully on 8chan, the otters were met unprepared by the takedown of 2019. After a certain period of limbo, they managed to regroup on anon.cafe before relocating to their very own site in 2021, and are now gracing the world of imageboards with their cuteness once again.

Road to Infinity Cup 6
In late 2019, the newly re-created /otter/ rose to the challenge after being invited to compete in the Infinity Cup. A stronk team assembled from the finest the subfamily has to offer, and prepared itself to make its debut in the upcoming 6th Infinity Cup. Otter fans everywhere are anticipating whether the team will win a lot or just a little. Only one thing is certain: Lots of fun will be had.

In the Infinity Cup 6 Friendlies, the otters made their first-ever appearance and defeated /monster/ by a score of 1-0 thanks to a goal by Bishan Dad and the opposing attackers' habit of missing the goal.

On the 1st of August, the romp was drawn into a group with menacing opponents /a/ and /ita/ and fellow newcomer /art/. Hype levels are high all around, and the otters are taking the challenge with confidence - will they prove their strength?

vs. /a/
/otter/'s first group stage match ended in an unfortunate but entertaining 3-1 defeat due to their goalie having no arms, causing disappointment among spectators. The first half of the match finished with no goals and, in fact, no shots at all from either team. The second half began with three back-to-back goals by Nano, Aniki and Chaika; one of them being a penalty the /otter/s conceded by letting wild animals loose on the pitch. The otters' tireless attacking runs kept /a/'s keeper on his toes. And yet, out of 8 shots, only one managed to find the back of the net at the 80th minute, far too late to save the game for the otters, and the game ended with a 1-3 defeat. Not all is lost however, and /otter/ can still make it to the knockouts, right?

vs. /art/
Right! After their crushing defeat, the otters decided it would be a good idea to take their frustration out on innocent /art/. Much like the previous game, the first half finished goalless. The romp got the second half started by constantly bullying the ball off of the /art/ attackers and sending it forward for their own. Zarathustra and Bishan Dad managed to land three goals in about 15 minutes of play, and /art/'s response came late into the game, with Ch 5 Action News landing a respect goal at 85 minutes. Even so, Bishan Dad finally sealed the deal and delivered another 90+4 minute goal, making the score 4-1 and earning himself the tournament's first hattrick.

vs. /ita/
To finish up their group stage, /otter/ delivered a snoozer of a match against /ita/ about which little need be said. Still, this 0-0 tie was enough to put them into second place of their group and advance into the knockouts.

Round of 16: vs. /a/
Being pitted against /a/ again in the Knockout Stage proved to be the otters' demise, as /a/ managed two goals in the first half and /otter/ had all their opportunities either denied or foolishly wasted.

The G-cup
The Global Cup, a competition between boards that represent countries, was announced in December of 2020. Naturally, otters are up for the challenge, and have entered the tournament representing Scotland. This unofficial competition saw the /otter/'s best performance so far, managing to become the highest scoring team in the whole tournament.

vs. /inch/
/otter/ kicked off the GCUP the right way, beating newcomers /inch/ in the very first group stage match by a whooping 4-1. The first half had spectators on the edge of their seat as each team managed promising runs into the opponent's box. /otter/ finished the half with a two goal lead, and emerged as clear winners in the second half. The first match of the Cup also saw the first hattrick scored by Zarathustra in the 56th minute, being rounded off with a goal by Nuria two minutes later.

vs. /ita/
Another tie, but not as boring as the first game against /ita/. This one finished tied at 3-3 with a goal by Bishan Dad and two by Zarathustra.

vs. /islam/
/otter/ entered the knockouts on top of their group and faced off against newcomers /islam/. /islam/'s rather porous backline was noted throughout the match and helped the /otter/ strikers to a quick 5-1 victory. Bishan Dad and Nuria scored two goals each, and St. Cuthbert scored one.

vs. /fscchan/
/otter/ conceded two goals from opposing left-wing-forward Benrick including a spectacular 360 header that has gone down in Cup history. Being only able to score a respect goal at 82 minutes by Zarathustra, the /otter/s were out of the cup and off to the third place game.

vs. /eris/
Quick attacks and counter-attacks all around, including another legendary header goal by opposing striker Eris, neither team was able to pull ahead and the match finished 3-3 at extra time. A p̸͟͏̸̸̷̧̰̟͚͈̫͓͎͚͡ȩ̶̛̯̦̠͈̝̱͔̻̀̕͘̕͡n̴̵̛͙̭̞̺͓͈̱̭̕̕͟͞͞a̶̧̢̞͚͉̭͉̣̙̩͘͜͡͡͡l̷̵̛̀͏̛̪͍̗̖͎̻̗́͜ͅţ̵̷̧̡̛̮̮̦̳̩̥̼͙́̕ỳ̢͔͇͉̖̯͇̩̻̀́͢͞͡͝ s͜h̶̴̵̡̢̛̬͔̱̙̲͉͕̀͞ͅó̸̵̡͎͎̙̫̜̜͎́̀͟͟ͅó̸̵̡͎͎̙̫̜̜͎́̀͟͟ͅt̶̴̸̢̢͈͎̳̜͚͍͢͡͠ͅͅǫ̶̴̖͉͍͖̲̗̘̗́̕͢͞͝ừ̴̢̡͘͏̢͇̖͖̣̮͎͚̥t̸̵̵̨̡̛͠͏͎̻̫̺̜̞͔͔ ensued in which /otter/ managed to grab a narrow victory in the 8th round, taking home the Third Place Trophy in what is the first time they ever won anything.

Road to Infinity Cup 7
After the G-Cup concluded, a long period with no Cup-related developments followed, with many wondering whether an Infinity Cup could ever happen again. During this time, the otters established and moved to their own board at Otterchat, leaving their old abode on anon.cafe behind. Things started to pick up on the /icup/ board again around mid-2022, and things started to look hopeful that a new tournament was finally going to be organized. Some controversy over whether the romp, having been outside of the webring for over a year by then, should still join the Cup. However, they ended up being invited as the Cup was made a non exclusive event, and got themselves ready to compete once more.

A test stream that occurred on August 12th saw otters facing off against their newcomer rivals, the raccoon board /pro/. The brief match ended in a 0-1 defeat. However, /otter/ managed to get even with /a/, scoring a 1-0 victory.

Infinity Cup 7 Group Stage
/otter/ got drawn into Group B together with /christian/, /japan/ and /art/, a group that has been dubbed the "Group of Death" by fans.

Crest
/otter/'s badge, adopted on the team's founding in 2019, features a sea otter and a river otter swimming around a soccer ball in a green diamond, its design based off the original logo of the Otter Specialist Group. The badge includes the motto "On Land Or Sea", highlighting the team's semi aquatic nature.

Colours


The team's colors take inspiration from the natural habitat of otters, the home kit's green shirt with a blue ribbon being a representation of a pristine river landscape in which otters can find a home. The away kit is based off of an otter's typical fur pattern, dark brown with a lighter area around the chest and neck. Featured on the sleeves of the two main kits are IOSF, an international charity for otter conservation. The otters' third colours, which have not yet been seen in a match, a white shirt and blue shorts featuring a sea otter lying on its back and the logo of Monterey Bay Aquarium, an institution caring for sea otters in California. /otter/'s fourth kit was used in the G-Cup and is a reference to the team's preference for scoring from crosses.

Roster
Main Article: /otter/ Roster.

Trivia

 * The team's color, Spraint Silver, is taken from a real sample of otter spraint.
 * In real life, otters are better known for being good at basketball.
 * /otter/'s victory anthem is the soundtrack to the film to the classic otter novel Tarka the Otter.
 * Apart from /christian/ and /eris/*, /otter/'s team is the only one fielding a saint.
 * Some otter species are quite territorial and will use cunning strategies to gain the upper hand against their opponents, leading to actual "wars" taking place between otter families.

 *according to some