What is a usual three-wave Salmon Run match called?

A usual three-wave Salmon Run match is called a shift.

Salmon Run is Splatoon’s cooperative player-versus-environment mode. A team of up to four players works for Grizzco Industries, defeats Salmonids, collects Golden Eggs from Boss Salmonids, and deposits them in a basket. Each wave has a quota that the team must meet before the timer expires.

In the standard format, a shift contains three waves. Splatoon 3: Salmon Run Next Wave can add a rare fourth Xtrawave, during which the team battles a King Salmonid such as Cohozuna. That special round does not change the ordinary name of the preceding three-wave match.

“Shift” is easy to confuse with “Salmon Run,” which names the mode itself, or with “wave,” which names one stage of a match. Special events also modify the format: Big Run moves Salmon Run onto multiplayer stages, while Eggstra Work uses a predetermined five-wave shift. The term comes from the mode’s employment theme: players are effectively completing a work shift for Grizzco.