Winning is survival. The description does not publish a score, a round timer, or bonus points. A bout ends when one cat, or one side in a team mode, is left on the ring.
Habits that match the ring-out rule
- Keep recoverable floor behind you. A cat already against the ropes has nowhere to step when the next shove lands.
- Do not stand still in a grab's range. Change direction. Straight-line running is easy to catch.
- Finish one cat before you chase the next. The common loss in a pile is a third cat grabbing you while you watch the fight in front of you.
- In Classic, let a clump trade first, then step in on a cat that is already off balance.
- In 2 Teams and 4 Teams, commit to the opponent your side is already holding, then leave. Chasing across the ring turns your back to the other groups.
When to press Q
Dash is the default, and the guide video uses it to get off the lip of the ring. That is the highest-value press while you are still learning: one button back toward open floor.
Hold a purchased ability for a moment that matches its reported job. Anchor and Fluff Up are the "harder to push" purchases in fan descriptions. Stomp is the area hit those descriptions point at a pile. Hairball is the slip the 17 October guide recommends, at a much higher coin reading. None of those effect lines are in the official description, and none of them publish a cooldown. If the tooltip in Inventory disagrees with a sentence here, keep the tooltip.
What does not raise your knockback
Furs, emotes, and the sumo-gear category are the crate rewards named by the developer. Guides that discuss combat treat furs as appearance only. The official text never says they change Punch or Grab, and it also never publishes a stat bonus, so do not buy a coat expecting a stronger throw. Ability choice and ring position are the upgrades the sources actually tie to staying in the bout.
One 15 October recording says some rings shrink as the round goes on. That is a single video, not a mode rule. If the floor under you gets smaller, the edge arrives sooner and Dash matters more, not less.