when and how do you play series? any advice for a stuck comp player?

[Masked_Katz]

Hello! It has been a hot minute since I've made a thread, but I swear I still visit from time to time.

Some time ago I shared with you guys that I reached my peak of S+1 after a year of reaching S+ and I'm now struggling in series more now than ever. The majority of people I play with are well above S+1 and so I feel like there is some vital thing that I'm missing that is just keeping me stuck here, especially considering I've ranked back up to S+ each season the past year. Ever since I reached S+1, I have been unable to play series without getting a negative K/D for the majority of the games, which is very weird to me because I'm usually praised for my K/D while playing in any other setting. I practice with my team and do scrims/tournaments 3 days a week, and many experienced players say I have a lot of potential, so I wanted to ask for any advice. Here are some questions that I have thought of that may help give me some helpful insight:

Compared to open... How often do you play series? How seriously do you take it? At what point do you consider yourself ready to take it seriously and attempt to rank up? Thanks guys.

 

[isaac4]

I do take Series a little more...seriously (lol) than Open but I'm also okay with playing it more casually if I don't like any of the other rotations that are available.
I'll still usually start a Splatoon session by playing Open though, it can be really good for some warm up games.
Besides that, I wouldn't worry too much about your K/D.
You could just be having a rough period playing solo which I've also had myself before, it's not an entirely accurate estimate of your skill.

 

[briank913]

I think part of why people struggle with Series now is because of a diminished player base. How many truly casual people still play this? It seems like the only ones in the West still playing S3 are those in comp teams, pros, and people who Splatoon with friends. I think it's fair to say many have moved on to something else.

i do Series generally to play against and with better people. I do them if the rotation is good but I don't do them often. I want to get better and learn from better people! However, I am seriously at a point where I don't want to do them anymore. I got paired against 3 people in a Series streak...like why would it do this? I may do Series towards the end of the season when it makes no difference anymore when you go 0-3.

 

[Aiko.Octo]

I have literally done the math (with unnecessarily elaborate spreadsheets) and proven to myself that if my current trends continue but only I play series instead of open there is practically no way that I come out with fewer points on average than I do in open (usually it's much more). But for that to work I have to be able to grind series with the same relaxed, low-stakes mindset that I take open, and it's just so hard for me to do that. Nervousness is just absolutely the end of me and I wish I could figure out how to do away with that.

The best I can do is try to convince myself that rank doesn't matter and that I'll get there when my skill naturally results in me getting there so I just need to focus on that, but... my anxiety isn't buying it. When I'm overcaffeinated my ambition can get loud enough to drown out the anxiety but when I'm overcaffeinated I also don't really play well (though it does make playing way more fun and that + lack of nervousness can even it out sometimes).

I'm still trying to figure it out, I guess.

 

[DzNutsKong]

I played a fair amount of series last season and straight up could not come out of it without being insanely tilted after only a few games. Sometimes I'd gain from it but it wasn't often because of just how badly it tends to damage my gameplay. Stakes are higher and every game can lead to more points being won or lost so it's easier to get hung up on when things do go wrong even if they're minor in the grand scheme of things, or to feel like the world's out to get you.

Probably only worth it to go in on days where your mental is strong enough. Even still though I've played a boatload of open this season and zero series and still surpassed my peak so....who's to say you even need it lmao

 

[Yeenom]

I basically only play series, no turf or opens. My only exception is if I don't like the map ("Oh dope, it's Tower on Mahi, guess I'm not playing for the next 2 hours"). Idk if I can really say I play super competitively or casually but I do always try no matter what, if I was in the mood to throw I'd just not play at all.

 

[Player#11]

Honestly I've mostly played series since I assume that most people who play open are in a group so it'll be more chill in series. (The one time I played open recently I ran into Omega and Basil) (It did not go well) I kind of just play weapons that I like and I pick gear that's optimal enough for the weapon and go in. I try and grind a month after the season begins so that I can get S+10 as soon as possible.

But playing when you're already down in the dumps series will not make it better (Also for solo I try not to be super hard on the randos and myself because it's really easy to self-sabotage your mental when looking at the scoreboard)

 

[OnePotWonder]

Depends on a number of factors including but not limited to:
Modes and stages
Current disposition
Current play goal
Open matchmaking luck
First game performance
Current weapon choice
Current gear choice
How badly I want to counterpick the nuisance weapon I keep running into (there's always one)
Current rank points
How experimental I'm feeling
How confident I'm feeling

To summarize: When I feel like it, when it's the least bad option, or when it best suits my goals.
In case it isn't clear, I do not take Series all that seriously. Or at least, I try not to. Caring too much is an easy recipe for bad tilt.