#squiffer asks

i hear your pleas anon, and i am here to help!

so! before i start getting into the nitty gritty, i want to say that i know pretty much Nothing about the metagame or anything pro like that. i am purely casual, anything competitive i know is through osmosis and not so much actual experience. i'm also pretty much solely a turf player. basically, i am not an Expert on the best ways to use a squiffer according to meta, i am simply sharing my wisdom based on my personal experience.

now that that's out of the way, let's get into it! this'll probably get long but i'll try and make it an easy read:

first off, pick a squiffer! my personal favorite of the three is the new squiffer, with autobombs and baller. it's a great kit for all-around gameplay, as in my experience i've been able to utilize my sub and special in both offensive and defensive situations, and it's pretty good at covering ground too. if you prefer to play support, try the classic squiffer with point sensor and ink armor. neither sub nor special lay down any ink, but well-placed point sensors and providing armor to your team can really put pressure on the enemy team, without necessarily being in the front line. if you're all about offense, try the fresh squiffer with suction bombs and inkjet. i am personally not good with an inkjet, but i do know that they are Scary if they know what they're doing. suction bombs have a larger blast than splat bombs, and good placement can apply pressure and cover a lot of ground at the same time. truly, a force to be reckoned with.

now that you've picked out a squiffer, the next thing you must understand is that squiffers play very differently from every other charger. a squiffer is not a perch charger! a squiffer is not a bamboozler either! to properly use a squiffer, you must be mobile. you need to get in closer than most other chargers would, as the squiffer has the range of a toothpick. yes, it is scary! but it's necessary. before you can become a speedy one-shot machine, you must first be comfortable with sniping in close proximity in a fast-paced environment. practice your movement; jump a lot (the squiffer's charge speed remains the same even when you're in the air!), swim around with stored charge, try and make a quick escape if you find yourself in a sticky situation, really get to know your squiffer's range and charge speed (main power up increases range on the squiffer and most other chargers, though whether or not you stack it is completely up to you).

because squiffers are meant to be mobile, it can be pretty tricky to aim when starting out. this is okay! chargers in general have a higher skill floor than some other weapon types, mainly because you have to be absolutely spot-on with your shots in order to deal any damage. it's rough, i know. but it's possible to improve! i highly recommend utilizing the testing room (y'know, the one with the balloon squids) to practice your aim. there are several different ways to drill, and there are drills on youtube you can follow if you don't know what to do. go easy on yourself, no matter where your skill level falls; every charger main misses their shot at some point! if you miss, simply try again. if you keep shooting, you're gonna land your shot eventually! also, absolutely do not be afraid to backpedal. keeping a good amount of distance from your foe is important, so make sure you get a feel for that sweet spot and make it a habit to create distance if someone gets too close on the battlefield. that being said, you won't always have that opportunity; squiffers are no strangers to flick shots!

lastly, give yourself time and room to grow. and i mean LOTS of it. all skills are built over the course of several days, weeks, you get the idea. if you are truly dedicated/able to do so, practicing every day for at least half an hour is ideal. even if you think you suck one day, come back the next day and give it another go; you might just surprise yourself with how much you improved! if you have space on your switch/sd card, i recommend you save any clips of cool squiffer moments you're proud of, no matter how small. when i was first learning squiffer, i would save clips that were admittedly not very impressive, but in the moment i was so proud of being able to land a shot that it seemed like i just performed a miracle. watching myself do something i never thought i'd be able to do before was a fantastic motivator (along with the incredibly satisfying snipe sound) and so i relished in all my tiny victories. my many missed shots and match losses didn't even matter to me at that point, those exciting moments are what made it all worth it in the end.

i was hatching for feebas! i ended up getting her after 3051 eggs. (i fished up some messages with timestamps in case youre curious about how long it took)