EDIT: This guide has some pretty outdated opinions and a lot of broken images. Maybe I'll go back to revisit this later but it's not very high on my list of priorities. Please DM me if you'd want me to revamp this.
Hey!
I was playing with some people on here not long ago and had a pretty big realization for a small guide I could post here. Learning the Decavitator has forced me into learning how to play much more quickly than I used to with the more supportive weapons I had tried previously. Something that I would soon learn is that starting a game out on the right foot can be a huge deal. Playing from a disadvantaged spot in this game is very tricky so getting good at forcing that early can completely change the result of a lot of games. So why not explain the things I've found most successful on every map? Some of these are better than others but I'll have notes for everything.
This guide is mostly for super aggressive weapons. Think your Dualies, most Blasters, Splatana Wiper, and similar. If you play a more supportive weapon or playstyle then this guide doesn't apply to those but don't be afraid to try something else that this guide might work a bit better for!
Everything here will be accompanied with images...
Marked in green are paths where you should be fine to go no matter what. Sometimes you might want to be concerned of bombs and stuff or maybe the Rainmaker bubble but otherwise should be relatively safe.
Marked in yellow are paths where you can sometimes go through, but are a bit more open or vulnerable. It's on you to judge on a game-to-game basis whether or not you should advance this far ahead. If you can't go through here it might be worth it to just hang back, keep people from approaching, and try to farm for your special as soon as humanly possible so you can try to get your team in with that.
Marked in blue are paths that I haven't really had the chance to try yet for one reason or another, but might be worthwhile. I'll be explaining these in more detail.
With that being said...
On Scorch Gorge, the platform in the center usually makes for pretty good cover and usually more supportive or anchor weapons will be covering the left side of mid for you. There's often not a great way for you to poke the spots on top of the ramp here. The blue path could let you skip the unsafe yellow part without being seen but you have no way to really escape and it might end up biting you if your opponents are still out of your reach.
For Eeltail Alley, you don't have a lot of options. The left part of mid gives you the most safety from people who are on the bridge but advancing further forward often puts you directly into the line of fire of people below the bridge. This should depend on what weapon you're using, what weapons are there if any, and how confident you are you can win an exchange if you get there.
Really though, right side of mid isn't even that much worse than left. Just avoid standing directly on top of your teammates. Make sure both sides are covered in one way or another.
Hagglefish Market is still one of my struggle stages for the weapons I play. The right flank is the closest to having relevant cover for you and keeps you away from the enemy's tent, but you usually won't have any idea if people will be able to see you coming from that direction. Against a coordinated team there usually will be so this is one of those maps where you'll usually just need to farm for your special unless your weapon has an easy way to poke the corner the yellow path ends on.
For Undertow Spillway, left side usually is a lot simpler if you can cling to either the right wall or go under the cubby they added in the update. You should be trying to poke at the point where the yellow lines end with bombs or whatever other means necessary. You need to know where the enemy backlines are on this map because they usually can reach just about any spot you'd want to go to.
The right side might be safer once you get into the cubby or potentially more high-reward as it'll let you get onto the enemy snipe, but might be much less safe until then and it'll be much harder to retreat on.
Mincemeat Metalworks is awful. Anywhere you could go leads nowhere and there's nowhere you can go just in general without a backline being able to kill you. Your best bet is dropping far right and either poking their snipe with bombs if you get the chance or trying to cling to the back wall and wall jump through the bottom of that grate, maybe hitting someone who doesn't know you're there or isn't positioning particularly well in the process. Yeah good luck with that though.
This is another map where weapons that outrange you will usually be able to lock down your options. Left side of mid has more cover but right side lets you get in a bit more annoying of a spot if you can do so safely.
Everyone knows this path but there are still things to talk about. On Splat Zones there isn't a ramp or block to go up, but the end of the green path is an extremely valuable way to go, especially if you play an AoE weapon or something that can poke over that ledge well. Even if you can't just poking with bombs can be very nice and if you can manage to get up there safely, the spinner can make for some fairly safe cover.
However, people will all know you're there and some teams will double up on you. Just quickly opening the map at the start of the game can make it very apparent you're going that way. Unless you have insane mechanics and can manage to kill several people at once, your teammates will absolutely NEED to be ready to support you going this way or at the very least capitalize on you sitting where the green line ends and holding their attention. The goal with this path and many others that I'm sharing isn't always to directly get picks.
Can sometimes be very high-risk, but can be very high-reward.
I don't really like dropping right on Mahi-Mahi Resort. Feels like you have to clear way too open of an area and doesn't net you as good of an angle as if you can go left. Usually you need to play around the piece of cover that you start with on the left. If you can throw a bomb onto any backlines sitting on the platform over the Splat Zone or anyone sitting behind it, that'd be ideal.
Sometimes there will be people on the platform behind the uninkable surface near where the yellow lines end. Those can sometimes pose more problems for you if you're not able to safely poke at them. If you can manage to get to the end of the yellow line though, then you usually end up with a great angle on the opponents. Otherwise It's for the best that you either farm for your special or wait for a teammate's to go in.
I loved this map on Stamper in particular because of how nice some of the poking spots here are great and I could easily see it being even better for something like a Slosher or Range Blaster. That left platform in mid is amazing for cover and you can usually get there more quickly than any opponents will be able to reach it, which is good since other area of effect weapons would be able to give you trouble there. The blue path might be necessary depending on where the opponents are positioned.
Once you get to the end of the yellow path you're already in a great spot to threaten enemy backlines, but you will need to watch for people sitting just over the uninkable ramp or the occasional backline on the far top left of the map. Once you get up there though it's possible to get completely behind people on some modes by going even further up the inkable ramp behind the uninkable one. There's a lot of cover here and it's an important point to hold on this map in general so this can be a huge deal.
As a side note, the reason you don't take the more intuitive path out of spawn is that going this way makes it very easy for the enemies to glance at the map and see where you're going before they need to focus on what's in front of them. You could take it this way if you don't think your opponents will flip the map open at the start for one reason or another.
Sturgeon. Usually backlines can get to their ideal positions at the same time as you get to the end of the green path so using the back side of that ramp as cover is very important. You don't have to go super far to get past mid though and you can be a real headache once you do. The blue path underneath the bridge in the middle is very slow for weapons without an added mobility option, but isn't a place people check very often and might be able to get you some easy kills on some opposing frontlines as a result.
MakoMart, like Hagglefish, is another map that's a bit of a question mark for me, but this is the best I've come up with so far. There's a block in the center of the map that can serve as cover for you if the wall where the green path ends doesn't suffice, or just dropping back onto the ramp can also work. If you or a teammate can manage to get people off of that platform that's over you then you can very easily slip through the right path and become a giant nuisance for your opponents. Just staying alive there can cause a huge headache for your opponents.
It's worth noting that this doesn't work as easily on Rainmaker but this map mode isn't very commonly played. Once you get to the end of the green path, trying to go past the left checkpoint instead can work fine.
Wahoo World... There's nowhere to go on this map without everyone being able to see you and without it taking forever. Realistically speaking you should just get to the end of the green path and paint for special. If you absolutely cannot sit still then the yellow path here is my best guess. Maybe there's somewhere else that works better but it feels like competent backlines can kill you anywhere else so I have no other guesses.
Flounder Heights has a very unique mid. You have a lot of options for how you'd like to approach it but unfortunately just sitting on your team's side of the grate bridge will mess with most of them. Here you don't really pose too much of a threat until you've moved through the yellow line and going there does hinge on people up top not seeing you. If they do see you it'll at least divert some attention away from your teammates but this doesn't stop anchor weapons. If anything you might want to wait a second before actually going underneath the bridge just to make sure there aren't any stragglers sitting a little bit behind mid.
There's a lot of room for experimentation here in particular though. See what works best for you. See what paths you can go through quickly before too many engagements happen and what paths you feel safest on.
Brinewater Springs is one of my personal favorite maps for this kind of strategy. You're only ever going to play this map in solo queue but people normally don't see you if you just chill on that ramp and you're rewarded with a really nasty angle on the enemies for it, plus if you win an exchange that goes there you get quick access to the enemies' snipe and can harass their backlines. If you want to start out learning this kind of stuff do it on Brinewater. This flank route is genuinely quite good for what its purpose is supposed to be.
For Manta Maria, sit in your bunker. If at all possible try staying hidden from your opponents and maybe painting for special. You can drop on people who get too close to the left side of mid if it looks advantageous or try to use bombs to poke at people to force your way left. If there's a backline to the far top left this becomes a lot more difficult. The blue route here can be amazing and incredibly safe if and only if your opponents don't have anyone in their bunker, in which case you won't be able to see them and they can see you, leaving you very vulnerable. If you want to go for this you totally can but need to pop the map open before you do so and need to be ready to sit back to the right farm for special if you don't think it'd be safe to go forward.
Um'ami Ruins is a bit tough to do something like this on because most of the time, even the least coordinated of teams will cover both sides of mid. The right side is marginally better than the left side because it avoids the opposing snipe a bit better and you can go through it a little bit faster out of spawn, but going to the left side is perfectly reasonable if there are less people over there. Going up top is entirely possible as well but not into a full team as full teams' comps will usually have something to threaten you while you're making yourself VERY visible. As always, make sure you're using cover to your advantage as you approach regardless of which path you go.
I honestly am not super confident on Humpback Pump Track either. Most routes are either very visible or just take too long. The left route is the one people see you doing the least in my experience and still manages to be a bit of a headache for most opponents to deal with. The blue paths take a bit longer and while the one that goes left is otherwise very similar to the main path, the one on the right at least lets you get completely behind the opponents, although again it takes a VERY long time.
Excuse the old map, but Barnacle & Dime's depends a lot on how quickly people get to mid and what weapons there are. For solo queue it can sometimes be quite easy to get to the end of the yellow path but area of effect weapons and chargers can make it a bit tougher. When you do get to the end of the yellow path, make sure you're ready to either safely poke the platform above you or get people out of the right side of mid since people will probably be in both of those places and you might not be able to deal with one super easily if you make your presence super known.
The blue path is something I've been meaning to try but haven't yet. It seems a bit slower on paper but if the opposing team doesn't have any weapons with particularly good fighting there then chances are you'd be able to clear them out and cause huge problems for the opponents.
For Crableg Capital, the left route is super quick and can let you jump people before they even really know it. Painting that wall to the right is faster but can make it harder to see people and puts you at a more awkward angle so I'd completely understand jumping off of the block in the bottom instead. The right route, much like plenty of others so far, can put you at a better angle to attack your opponents at the cost of being a bit slower.
Shipshape Cargo Co. works a bit differently from a lot of these. Try getting up top right and making sure to stay hidden from the opponents until you get a chance to drop down below either to ambush a person or to get behind the cover there. From here you can either go up to the left side of mid or just hold the space down there. The part of the map you'd be in doesn't have a lot of cover and doesn't have a lot of options on defense so just staying there and keeping people from dropping can sometimes be nice on its own. It is worth noting that some area of effect weapons would have the new, powerful option to poke the top right platform closer to their spawn.
Okay for the purposes of this resource, Bluefin Depot is kind of a yikes. This map is notoriously dominated by longer-ranged weapons, there's very little cover and all of your approach options are very predictable. Thankfully though it doesn't usually see competitive play. This map is one where what you'll just need to position as far forward as you physically can and use the context of the situation to your advantage. How many enemies are on each side of the map, and where are your teammates? If everyone's spread out enough or there are enough backlines halting your progress you should just paint for special. If there's a way to go forward or engage in a 1v1 with a weapon you have good odds against without a backline killing you, take it. If you suspect your opponents will all be looking in one direction, try finding a way to get to a different side of them.
For Robo ROM-en, try getting onto the left ramp and sitting there until you get an ideal chance to at least trade with someone. I often like not even painting the ramp and just sitting there in squid form to avoid people seeing me on the minimap although this can make it harder to retreat. You do actually have a very good retreat option by dipping behind mid and painting that back wall to sit closer to where your teammates are. Most people on this map like sitting behind the Splat Zone before any big engagements happen so keep that in mind. The blue paths, like usual, take a lot longer, and the left of the two is a bit faster but a bit less safe.
Marlin Airport is probably the map I've struggled with most on this list, but here's the best of what I've come up with. If you go to the end of the green path you can actually hit the nearby fan to drag a platform towards you and shark just next to it but this leaves you extremely vulnerable so it's usually just safer to paint for special. The blue route is one of the more enticing on this list though. If you can get that platform painted before going up there then that would probably be fantastic and the speed difference doesn't seem that bad.
Lastly, Lemuria Hub. Like Robo ROM-en, try to keep the ramp you're sitting on unpainted and try to sneak up there without anyone seeing you. From there, you can drop onto anyone who doesn't know you're there, making sure to use the walls there as cover. This is another example of a map that doesn't see competitive play and people will often play without enough caution around the big drop here so you'll be able to jump on people without too much difficulty.
And that's about it! For closing notes, this is not a fully definitive or perfect list. I'm only one player and I know other people who play other weapons may have different, sometimes even better perspectives than I do. Try what I have here and compare it to what you currently do. Even in other Splatoon games though this should give you a general guide of what to look for since you could easily apply what you may have learned here to other maps. I'm very open to seeing you guys's feedback so please let me know if you have to say anything!
Hey!
I was playing with some people on here not long ago and had a pretty big realization for a small guide I could post here. Learning the Decavitator has forced me into learning how to play much more quickly than I used to with the more supportive weapons I had tried previously. Something that I would soon learn is that starting a game out on the right foot can be a huge deal. Playing from a disadvantaged spot in this game is very tricky so getting good at forcing that early can completely change the result of a lot of games. So why not explain the things I've found most successful on every map? Some of these are better than others but I'll have notes for everything.
This guide is mostly for super aggressive weapons. Think your Dualies, most Blasters, Splatana Wiper, and similar. If you play a more supportive weapon or playstyle then this guide doesn't apply to those but don't be afraid to try something else that this guide might work a bit better for!
Everything here will be accompanied with images...
Marked in green are paths where you should be fine to go no matter what. Sometimes you might want to be concerned of bombs and stuff or maybe the Rainmaker bubble but otherwise should be relatively safe.
Marked in yellow are paths where you can sometimes go through, but are a bit more open or vulnerable. It's on you to judge on a game-to-game basis whether or not you should advance this far ahead. If you can't go through here it might be worth it to just hang back, keep people from approaching, and try to farm for your special as soon as humanly possible so you can try to get your team in with that.
Marked in blue are paths that I haven't really had the chance to try yet for one reason or another, but might be worthwhile. I'll be explaining these in more detail.
With that being said...
On Scorch Gorge, the platform in the center usually makes for pretty good cover and usually more supportive or anchor weapons will be covering the left side of mid for you. There's often not a great way for you to poke the spots on top of the ramp here. The blue path could let you skip the unsafe yellow part without being seen but you have no way to really escape and it might end up biting you if your opponents are still out of your reach.
For Eeltail Alley, you don't have a lot of options. The left part of mid gives you the most safety from people who are on the bridge but advancing further forward often puts you directly into the line of fire of people below the bridge. This should depend on what weapon you're using, what weapons are there if any, and how confident you are you can win an exchange if you get there.
Really though, right side of mid isn't even that much worse than left. Just avoid standing directly on top of your teammates. Make sure both sides are covered in one way or another.
Hagglefish Market is still one of my struggle stages for the weapons I play. The right flank is the closest to having relevant cover for you and keeps you away from the enemy's tent, but you usually won't have any idea if people will be able to see you coming from that direction. Against a coordinated team there usually will be so this is one of those maps where you'll usually just need to farm for your special unless your weapon has an easy way to poke the corner the yellow path ends on.
For Undertow Spillway, left side usually is a lot simpler if you can cling to either the right wall or go under the cubby they added in the update. You should be trying to poke at the point where the yellow lines end with bombs or whatever other means necessary. You need to know where the enemy backlines are on this map because they usually can reach just about any spot you'd want to go to.
The right side might be safer once you get into the cubby or potentially more high-reward as it'll let you get onto the enemy snipe, but might be much less safe until then and it'll be much harder to retreat on.
Mincemeat Metalworks is awful. Anywhere you could go leads nowhere and there's nowhere you can go just in general without a backline being able to kill you. Your best bet is dropping far right and either poking their snipe with bombs if you get the chance or trying to cling to the back wall and wall jump through the bottom of that grate, maybe hitting someone who doesn't know you're there or isn't positioning particularly well in the process. Yeah good luck with that though.
This is another map where weapons that outrange you will usually be able to lock down your options. Left side of mid has more cover but right side lets you get in a bit more annoying of a spot if you can do so safely.
Everyone knows this path but there are still things to talk about. On Splat Zones there isn't a ramp or block to go up, but the end of the green path is an extremely valuable way to go, especially if you play an AoE weapon or something that can poke over that ledge well. Even if you can't just poking with bombs can be very nice and if you can manage to get up there safely, the spinner can make for some fairly safe cover.
However, people will all know you're there and some teams will double up on you. Just quickly opening the map at the start of the game can make it very apparent you're going that way. Unless you have insane mechanics and can manage to kill several people at once, your teammates will absolutely NEED to be ready to support you going this way or at the very least capitalize on you sitting where the green line ends and holding their attention. The goal with this path and many others that I'm sharing isn't always to directly get picks.
Can sometimes be very high-risk, but can be very high-reward.
I don't really like dropping right on Mahi-Mahi Resort. Feels like you have to clear way too open of an area and doesn't net you as good of an angle as if you can go left. Usually you need to play around the piece of cover that you start with on the left. If you can throw a bomb onto any backlines sitting on the platform over the Splat Zone or anyone sitting behind it, that'd be ideal.
Sometimes there will be people on the platform behind the uninkable surface near where the yellow lines end. Those can sometimes pose more problems for you if you're not able to safely poke at them. If you can manage to get to the end of the yellow line though, then you usually end up with a great angle on the opponents. Otherwise It's for the best that you either farm for your special or wait for a teammate's to go in.
I loved this map on Stamper in particular because of how nice some of the poking spots here are great and I could easily see it being even better for something like a Slosher or Range Blaster. That left platform in mid is amazing for cover and you can usually get there more quickly than any opponents will be able to reach it, which is good since other area of effect weapons would be able to give you trouble there. The blue path might be necessary depending on where the opponents are positioned.
Once you get to the end of the yellow path you're already in a great spot to threaten enemy backlines, but you will need to watch for people sitting just over the uninkable ramp or the occasional backline on the far top left of the map. Once you get up there though it's possible to get completely behind people on some modes by going even further up the inkable ramp behind the uninkable one. There's a lot of cover here and it's an important point to hold on this map in general so this can be a huge deal.
As a side note, the reason you don't take the more intuitive path out of spawn is that going this way makes it very easy for the enemies to glance at the map and see where you're going before they need to focus on what's in front of them. You could take it this way if you don't think your opponents will flip the map open at the start for one reason or another.
Sturgeon. Usually backlines can get to their ideal positions at the same time as you get to the end of the green path so using the back side of that ramp as cover is very important. You don't have to go super far to get past mid though and you can be a real headache once you do. The blue path underneath the bridge in the middle is very slow for weapons without an added mobility option, but isn't a place people check very often and might be able to get you some easy kills on some opposing frontlines as a result.
MakoMart, like Hagglefish, is another map that's a bit of a question mark for me, but this is the best I've come up with so far. There's a block in the center of the map that can serve as cover for you if the wall where the green path ends doesn't suffice, or just dropping back onto the ramp can also work. If you or a teammate can manage to get people off of that platform that's over you then you can very easily slip through the right path and become a giant nuisance for your opponents. Just staying alive there can cause a huge headache for your opponents.
It's worth noting that this doesn't work as easily on Rainmaker but this map mode isn't very commonly played. Once you get to the end of the green path, trying to go past the left checkpoint instead can work fine.
Wahoo World... There's nowhere to go on this map without everyone being able to see you and without it taking forever. Realistically speaking you should just get to the end of the green path and paint for special. If you absolutely cannot sit still then the yellow path here is my best guess. Maybe there's somewhere else that works better but it feels like competent backlines can kill you anywhere else so I have no other guesses.
Flounder Heights has a very unique mid. You have a lot of options for how you'd like to approach it but unfortunately just sitting on your team's side of the grate bridge will mess with most of them. Here you don't really pose too much of a threat until you've moved through the yellow line and going there does hinge on people up top not seeing you. If they do see you it'll at least divert some attention away from your teammates but this doesn't stop anchor weapons. If anything you might want to wait a second before actually going underneath the bridge just to make sure there aren't any stragglers sitting a little bit behind mid.
There's a lot of room for experimentation here in particular though. See what works best for you. See what paths you can go through quickly before too many engagements happen and what paths you feel safest on.
Brinewater Springs is one of my personal favorite maps for this kind of strategy. You're only ever going to play this map in solo queue but people normally don't see you if you just chill on that ramp and you're rewarded with a really nasty angle on the enemies for it, plus if you win an exchange that goes there you get quick access to the enemies' snipe and can harass their backlines. If you want to start out learning this kind of stuff do it on Brinewater. This flank route is genuinely quite good for what its purpose is supposed to be.
For Manta Maria, sit in your bunker. If at all possible try staying hidden from your opponents and maybe painting for special. You can drop on people who get too close to the left side of mid if it looks advantageous or try to use bombs to poke at people to force your way left. If there's a backline to the far top left this becomes a lot more difficult. The blue route here can be amazing and incredibly safe if and only if your opponents don't have anyone in their bunker, in which case you won't be able to see them and they can see you, leaving you very vulnerable. If you want to go for this you totally can but need to pop the map open before you do so and need to be ready to sit back to the right farm for special if you don't think it'd be safe to go forward.
Um'ami Ruins is a bit tough to do something like this on because most of the time, even the least coordinated of teams will cover both sides of mid. The right side is marginally better than the left side because it avoids the opposing snipe a bit better and you can go through it a little bit faster out of spawn, but going to the left side is perfectly reasonable if there are less people over there. Going up top is entirely possible as well but not into a full team as full teams' comps will usually have something to threaten you while you're making yourself VERY visible. As always, make sure you're using cover to your advantage as you approach regardless of which path you go.
I honestly am not super confident on Humpback Pump Track either. Most routes are either very visible or just take too long. The left route is the one people see you doing the least in my experience and still manages to be a bit of a headache for most opponents to deal with. The blue paths take a bit longer and while the one that goes left is otherwise very similar to the main path, the one on the right at least lets you get completely behind the opponents, although again it takes a VERY long time.
Excuse the old map, but Barnacle & Dime's depends a lot on how quickly people get to mid and what weapons there are. For solo queue it can sometimes be quite easy to get to the end of the yellow path but area of effect weapons and chargers can make it a bit tougher. When you do get to the end of the yellow path, make sure you're ready to either safely poke the platform above you or get people out of the right side of mid since people will probably be in both of those places and you might not be able to deal with one super easily if you make your presence super known.
The blue path is something I've been meaning to try but haven't yet. It seems a bit slower on paper but if the opposing team doesn't have any weapons with particularly good fighting there then chances are you'd be able to clear them out and cause huge problems for the opponents.
For Crableg Capital, the left route is super quick and can let you jump people before they even really know it. Painting that wall to the right is faster but can make it harder to see people and puts you at a more awkward angle so I'd completely understand jumping off of the block in the bottom instead. The right route, much like plenty of others so far, can put you at a better angle to attack your opponents at the cost of being a bit slower.
Shipshape Cargo Co. works a bit differently from a lot of these. Try getting up top right and making sure to stay hidden from the opponents until you get a chance to drop down below either to ambush a person or to get behind the cover there. From here you can either go up to the left side of mid or just hold the space down there. The part of the map you'd be in doesn't have a lot of cover and doesn't have a lot of options on defense so just staying there and keeping people from dropping can sometimes be nice on its own. It is worth noting that some area of effect weapons would have the new, powerful option to poke the top right platform closer to their spawn.
Okay for the purposes of this resource, Bluefin Depot is kind of a yikes. This map is notoriously dominated by longer-ranged weapons, there's very little cover and all of your approach options are very predictable. Thankfully though it doesn't usually see competitive play. This map is one where what you'll just need to position as far forward as you physically can and use the context of the situation to your advantage. How many enemies are on each side of the map, and where are your teammates? If everyone's spread out enough or there are enough backlines halting your progress you should just paint for special. If there's a way to go forward or engage in a 1v1 with a weapon you have good odds against without a backline killing you, take it. If you suspect your opponents will all be looking in one direction, try finding a way to get to a different side of them.
For Robo ROM-en, try getting onto the left ramp and sitting there until you get an ideal chance to at least trade with someone. I often like not even painting the ramp and just sitting there in squid form to avoid people seeing me on the minimap although this can make it harder to retreat. You do actually have a very good retreat option by dipping behind mid and painting that back wall to sit closer to where your teammates are. Most people on this map like sitting behind the Splat Zone before any big engagements happen so keep that in mind. The blue paths, like usual, take a lot longer, and the left of the two is a bit faster but a bit less safe.
Marlin Airport is probably the map I've struggled with most on this list, but here's the best of what I've come up with. If you go to the end of the green path you can actually hit the nearby fan to drag a platform towards you and shark just next to it but this leaves you extremely vulnerable so it's usually just safer to paint for special. The blue route is one of the more enticing on this list though. If you can get that platform painted before going up there then that would probably be fantastic and the speed difference doesn't seem that bad.
Lastly, Lemuria Hub. Like Robo ROM-en, try to keep the ramp you're sitting on unpainted and try to sneak up there without anyone seeing you. From there, you can drop onto anyone who doesn't know you're there, making sure to use the walls there as cover. This is another example of a map that doesn't see competitive play and people will often play without enough caution around the big drop here so you'll be able to jump on people without too much difficulty.
And that's about it! For closing notes, this is not a fully definitive or perfect list. I'm only one player and I know other people who play other weapons may have different, sometimes even better perspectives than I do. Try what I have here and compare it to what you currently do. Even in other Splatoon games though this should give you a general guide of what to look for since you could easily apply what you may have learned here to other maps. I'm very open to seeing you guys's feedback so please let me know if you have to say anything!
