Competitive:Sploosh-o-matic

Unofficial

Splatoon 2
The Sploosh-o-matic  is a very mobile, rapid-firing, but very short-ranged weapon with a high rate of damage. Unlike its more popular counterpart, the Sploosh-o-matic 7, it struggles more as a slayer due to its worse kit and is commonly seen as one of the worst weapons in the game by competitive players. This weapon lacks a throwable bomb to poke with in neutral or attack from far away, and the special is much less reliable.

Use
While the Sploosh-o-matic is a slayer's weapon, its lack of range and accuracy forces it to be played differently from how typical slayer's weapons are played: While the Curling Bomb is not as versatile as other bombs, it still has a variety of uses: The Splashdown can either turn the tide of a battle or be canceled quite easily.
 * Its effective range of 75.64 DU is shorter than that of almost every other weapon in the game, meaning that most other main weapons and bombs can zone out the Sploosh-o-matic. Therefore, attempting to attack competent opponents head-on with this weapon will usually lead to a one way trip back to the spawn point.
 * Its poor accuracy, combined with its very short range, makes the Sploosh-o-matic ineffective at hitting targets from a distance, particularly at an upward angle.
 * The most effective means a Sploosh-o-matic user can splat opponents with the main weapon is through either timely flanking or careful sharking.
 * One advantage that the Sploosh-o-matic has over most other weapons is its extremely high mobility, which is due to both its high movement speed while firing (0.80 DU/f) and very short lag after firing (2 frames), enabling it to move and react more rapidly.
 * The Sploosh-o-matic is also very quick and thorough at turfing, allowing it to easily maintain map control and build up the special gauge.
 * When it travels along any inkable non-vertical surface, it leaves a trail of ink behind, providing a quick avenue to either attack or escape. This trait enables the original, or Vanilla, Sploosh-o-matic to be more mobile than its other variants.
 * Keep opponents guessing by sending Curling Bombs towards the opponent without swimming in its trail. Either Ninja Squid or swimming slowly can help avoid detection while swimming in the ink trail.
 * It further assists the main weapon in turfing from a safe distance.
 * When charged, or "cooked" long enough, it can be used to lay insidious bomb traps to hold off pursuers or flush out sharks.
 * Particularly in narrow or closed areas, a Curling Bomb ricocheting off of walls can be a useful distraction to force an opponent to move in a certain direction.
 * The worst scenario for a Splashdown is when used as a panic button to get out from a sticky situation, as it can be predicted and aimed for it to be canceled.
 * Due to its short range and lacking any bombs that explode instantly, such as Burst Bombs or Fizzy Bombs, the Sploosh-o-matic will struggle to finish off opponents weakened by a Splashdown.
 * The safest way to execute a Splashdown is by super jumping to a teammate.
 * Using Super Jump can be a surprise for opponents that are not aware of the UI that indicates specials ready from the opponent team.
 * Most weapons can cancel the special mid-Splashdown, so it is best to make sure that the opponent you are confronting has a weapon that takes multiple shots for a splat or has low range.
 * The Splashdown can cancel formation of Bubbles making it a quick and fast way of removing them.
 * The Splashdown can be used from higher ledges making it more powerful and extending its radius of splash damage.

Synergy
While one user of a short-ranged weapon such as the Sploosh-o-matic might get away with a lack of range, having too many short-ranged weapons on a team without a longer-ranged weapon to provide support fire is often disadvantageous for a number of reasons: The specific weaknesses Splashdown has compared to other special weapons reduces its effectiveness if possessed by more than one player in a team: If you regularly keep track of your teammates' locations with the map (by pressing ), you might find opportune moments to use a Super Jumping Splashdown to secure control of important areas, such as onto the Tower or just underneath the opponents' clam basket.
 * An opponent with a long-ranged weapon can more aggressively position themselves to zone out the entire shorter-ranged team.
 * The opposing slayers can play more aggressively, knowing that there is no long-ranged threat to pick them off from afar.
 * Without a teammate or Squid Beakon to Super Jump to, Splashdown is relatively static. It cannot push back opponents as effectively as Baller, Bomb Launcher, Booyah Bomb, or even Ink Storm can.
 * An opponent who is skilled at splatting Splashdown attempts could effectively neutralize the special weapon of anyone with Splashdown due to its mostly consistent height, duration, and pattern.

Countermeasures

 * The very short range of the Sploosh-o-matic makes it easy for opponents to zone it out with most other main weapons and bombs.
 * A competent Sploosh-o-matic user is more likely to attack via flanking or sharking:
 * Keep track of all four members of the opposing team – which ones are present, which ones are splatted, and which ones are back at their spawn point.
 * Check the map periodically for opposing ink forming around flanks to anticipate a flanking attack.
 * To prevent sharking, check suspicious puddles of the opponents' ink, preferably with a thrown sub weapon.
 * Keep an eye on the HUD to know when an opposing Sploosh-o-matic user has Splashdown ready to avoid getting caught by surprise, especially from a Splashdown after a super jump:
 * If an opposing Sploosh-o-matic user activates a Splashdown in an unsafe position, it can be canceled quite easily from fast firing weapons and chargers.
 * The opposing Sploosh-o-matic user might go for risky plays if they know they have the Splashdown ready as a safety net. It is possible to bait them to take control of an open space and surprise them with a teammate to force a mid-Splashdown situation and cancel it.

Gear Abilities
Gear abilities provide different effects in battle that benefit the player with their equipped weapon. This is a guide to gear abilities in relation to the weapon. Strategy, synergy, viability, and purpose may be written here. Ninja Squid reduces detection by opponents while swimming on non-vertical surfaces. It allows its user to swim at full speed undetected at the cost of about 20% of the maximum swimming speed as of Version 3.0.0. Because a Sploosh-o-matic user has difficulty attacking most opponents head-on, Ninja Squid can make it easier for its user to shark and more safely approach opponents.
 * As of Version 3.0.0, Ninja Squid reduces the maximum swim speed of the Neo Sploosh-o-matic from 2.02 units per frame to 1.81 units per frame.

As a short-ranged weapon that excels at flanking, the Sploosh-o-matic greatly benefits if it is able to swim faster. Swim Speed Up enables its user to more quickly close the distance towards an opponent, more quickly respond to an opponents' push, or even escape unfavorable situations.

Not recommended. Although it increases damage the Sploosh-o-matic will not be able to reach a damage cap such as 49.9 or 33.3. The Sploosh-o-matic already has high DPS so Main Power Up will not make much of a difference.

Not recommended. The Sploosh-o-matic already gets Splashdown fast enough due to its good painting ability and low special cost, but Splashdown isn't a special worth dedicated gear abilities to.