Does anyone else need "warm up matches"?

[Aori]

After picking up the game for the first time in the day, do you need to do a few matches to warm up and get a grip on your playstyle again? Usually I end up doing garbage my first few matches and just count them as warmup because I do very poor in comparison to my usual skill level. Of course, it's not on purpose- I'm trying my hardest but nothing really turns up how I want the first few matches.

Ultimately I start getting back to my usual after 2 or 3 matches depending on how drowsy I am.

 

[AlphaOmegaSplatter]

*raises hand*

 

[Aristeia]

Yes, I have noticed that the majority of the time I do need warm-up matches. While I don't need them every time I boot up the game, especially if I've been playing often lately, I do need them more than I don't need them. Hell, sometimes I don't hit my peak level of play until after an hour or more of screwing around on Regular! Sometimes I burn out super quickly, however, so the worst is when it takes me an hour to warm up but then I have like 15 minutes of great play before I start tanking. Splatoon is weird :o

 

[Hero of Lime]

I don't need whole matches, but I like to go to the practice range to get a feel for the game. Especially if I use a shooter weapon. Been playing the game since launch, I know the controls and feel of all my best weapons, yet having a few minutes in the practice range really feels good at the beginning of every play session.

 

[Aristeia]

^ Agreed, running through bits of single-player will work wonders as well.

 

[Dessgeega]

Yeeeep. Considering how hellish S and S+ ranked matches can be, I often like to do a match or two of turf to make sure my head's in the game.

 

[Flareth]

Before each Splatfest I'd make sure to play a few regular matches, both to prepare myself for the next 24 hours and to sort of gauge how well I could expect to do. With regular Turf Wars, I just head in blind and hope for the best.

 

[xXShadeXx]

While I still actively played rank, I'd do two to three matches to warm myself up before hopping up into rank (and also to be sure my internet was stable). Can't be helping my team if my eyes and fingers don't move fast enough to be efficient. Turf wars? Whole different ball game. No objective, so I just hop in and do whatever and still do fin (doesn't mean my team wins, though).

 

[Ikaheishi]

Sometimes I need a few matches to get into the vibe of playing. Especially after recent hiatus from play.

 

[Brie_no.20]

I actually did a poll on G+ asking this question over the weekend. :-D
I'll usually warm up with some single player stages to get into the zone (do people still say that these days?) before jumping into online.

 

[LMG]

What I did after my extended hiatus was to go to the firing range to get the hang of the controls again (and adjust my sensitivity since I've been playing a lot of Warframe lately). After that I was pretty much good to go

 

[Cuttleshock]

Warm-ups in TW, yes - normally just one battle and I feel comfortable going into Ranked. Additionally, however, I like to gauge my readiness for play with Squid Beatz, the rhythm mini-game unlocked by the squid amiibo. Very rapid tapping is not necessary in this game (I don't use the Inkbrush, so) but I still get an idea of how awake my fingers are based on my performance on certain songs - normally, I can just about do all but the quickest double-taps with my left thumb (which is slower than my right), so if I'm failing to hit a lot of quick notes, I won't expect too much from my play that session. Won't stop me from going in, though!

 

[Ansible]

I'm starting to think I should really do warm-ups more often. Especially when I play chargers for an entire session.

Normally, unless I plan on playing turf war, I jump straight into rank.When I'm using a charger it seems to take me a few matches or too many minutes to find my flow—and it's annoying. I often wind up doing a lot of turfing and suppressing fire at best, being carried by my teams at worst. Then once I hit my stride it's like "You get to respawn. And you get to respawn. And you get to respawn again. Everybody gets to respawn!"

 

[SilverBlue-Neko]

I definitely need a few warm up matches, especially if I'm using a weapon I haven't used in a while. I tried playing with my E-Liter after not touching it for days and it was awful! Shots I could usually make in my sleep I couldn't make anymore. Someone was even jumping in front of me, taunting, and I couldn't splat them! I felt so insulted.... :(
Eventually, I started doing way better after a few matches........until I switched weapons again.

 

[Aori]

I found out warming up by playing around in solo helps me a lot, but I usually have to do some matches with my normal gun to perfect my daily playstyle.

 

[Slushious]

Even when I did play daily, I'd still pop into Octo Valley and tango with the Octolings once or twice to limber up. Nowadays I should probably be doing the stealth-based ones instead, though.

 

[Magnus0]

For me it's the opposite. Usually, my first couple of matches are when I play at my best. When I have been playing for an hour or so, my skill level dips in a bit, mostly because I get tired of using the same weapon (except my main, the kelp scope) really quickly, so I end up playing around with some ****ty sets or try some new weapon.

I think I would do better if I would just use the three weapons I'm most experienced with, but then I would get bored really quickly.

 

[Bossk128]

I play too sporadically :(

My routine goes:
Play with my last most successful weapon/loadout (map/mode dependent of course)
Win a game or two on TW. Smile.
Suck badly for 60 minutes, getting 0 kills, amking gross errors and losing matches like no tomorrow.
Change to another weapon I like (N Zap, 52, DS, Tri, never roller or charger).
Start doing OK, over the next hour or so culminating in some great KDs and a sense of achievement!
Get tired and start sucking again.
Get told of by the wife for spending too much time on Splatoon.
Wait 2-3 weeks.
Repeat.

Last binge got me to A+ after I was 8 points from relegation to A-. The disc intimidates me now from the shelf.