A. Tournament Rules

• Controller Requirements

Players are required to bring their own controllers. The following controllers are permitted for use: Gamecube Controller, Wireless Pro controller, Joycons. Joycons may not be removed from their Switches without the owner’s consent. Switches may not be removed from their docks without the owner’s consent. All players in a set must have their controllers connected to the same console.

“Box”-style controllers, as well as any other controllers, may be allowed at the TO’s(Tournament Organizer’s) discretion.

• Set Length
  
  All tournament sets will be a best-of-3 games unless otherwise specified by event-specific rules. Rules below do not change between the set format.
  
  

• Character/Stage Pick Procedure
  Players will begin their set by first announcing the characters they will play for the first game. Players may request a blind selection for character. If any player requests a blind selection, a third party will be privately informed of each player’s selection separately and then will confirm those selections aloud as the players choose them. After these characters have been selected, players will begin striking stages.
  
  For the first game of the set, stage bans will take place with a P1-P2-P2-P1 format(the first player bans one stage, then the second player bans two stages, then the first player bans another stage), however for subsequent games the player who won the previous game will ban 3 stages and the losing player will pick from those that remain.

For the first game of the set, players may either mutually agree on which player will ban first or play RPS(Rock, Paper, Scissors) to determine which player will ban first. If playing RPS, the winner of RPS decides who will ban first.

Players may select a different character after each game. Each player must announce their character for the next game before stage bans or selection occurs. The player that won the previous game must select their character first.

• Stage Agreement Clause
  
  Players may select any LEGAL stage if they both agree on it. Players may not play on illegal stages or change the length of a set. If this is violated, both players will be subject to complete disqualification from the event.
  
  

• Stalling
  
  Stalling, or intentionally making the game unplayable or delaying the play of a set, is banned and at the discretion of tournament staff. Stalling will result in a forfeit of the game for the player that initiated the action.
  
  

• Self-Destruct Moves
  
  If a game ends with a self-destruct move, the results screen will determine the winner. If a sudden death occurs, a standard sudden death play-off game applies (see 1.7).
  
  

• Sudden Death
  
  If a game goes to Sudden Death, the winner is determined by stocks and percentage at the time the game ends. If both players are tied in stocks, the player with the lower percentage is the winner. In the event of a percentage tie, or a game in which both players lose their last stock simultaneously, a 1-stock tiebreaker will be played with a 3-minute time limit. The results of an in-game 300% Sudden Death do not count. If Sudden Death occurs in a Sudden Death game, this process is repeated.
  
  

• Alting/Smurfing
  
  Players will be immediately disqualified from the tournament if they are found using an alternate tag/tags and/or hide your identity to manipulate the bracket/seeding. The only exception to this rule is if the player notifies a TO prior to the registration end date.
  
  

• Disqualification Timers
  
  When a match is called and set to begin, all players involved are expected to be present and available as soon as possible. In the event that a player is not available and/or unable to be reached, a disqualification timer may be placed on the player at the TO’s discretion. The duration of this timer will be set at the TO’s discretion.

Players are expected to report to their matches on time and automatic DQ’s will be enforced save for special circumstances (Up to TO discretion).

After a set begins, players are expected to play out games with only a reasonable time taken between games for preparation. Any player in a set may call for a 100-second time limit to start the next game. This time limit begins when a player requests it to the other players in the set, and it will not apply if no request is made. A TO can be requested to track the timer, as well.

If Grand Finals resets, any player in the set can request a 5-minute break. No penalties will apply during this time.

If a player is not ready after the time limit, they will face escalating consequences, ranging from verbal warning to event disqualification. TOs can make exceptions to this rule at their own discretion.

• Collusion and Coaching
  
  Players suspected of colluding may be immediately disqualified from the tournament. This includes intentionally throwing a game, splitting a payout, or committing any other form of bracket manipulation. The TO reserves the right to deny payout of event winnings to any player suspected of colluding. 

Coaching, defined as anyone not involved in a match giving instruction or strategic assistance of any kind to players in an active match, is not allowed. Players who suspect their opponents are receiving coaching in the middle of a game should call over a Tournament Organizer who will determine if a warning, game loss or event disqualification is warranted given the circumstances. Coaching between individual games is allowed if all participating players give consent; if an opponent seeks or receives coaching without securing the agreement of his opponent, this is grounds for TO involvement. (Note that cheering and words of encouragement, i.e. “Let’s go!” or “Mess them up!” are not considered coaching.)

• Competitive Integrity
  
  In all competitions there should be a fair playing field for all players.

Every encounter must be played according to the rules until it is complete and the result on the bracket page entered. Any encounter that did not take place, should be deleted. Matches will be opened only by admins to delete exceptions. Matches that did not take place will be considered fake matches and will be punished.

It is not allowed for participants to bet on matches in their own competition, with the exception of making a wager against your set opponent(money match). Betting against yourself will get you disqualified and potentially banned.

Organizers reserve the right to withhold payout if any of these are violated.

• Misinterpretation/Misconfiguration
  
  Games or sets are not to be replayed due to a misinterpretation of the rules OR misconfiguration of game settings, excluding player-specific settings. Game settings should be configured according to section 2.1. It is the players’ responsibilities to ask the TO for any clarification of the rule set in the event of a disagreement, and the outcome of a game or set will not be changed after the fact unless under extreme circumstances, judgment is reserved for tournament staff.

In the event players begin a game with misconfigured player-specific controls (controller settings, etc.), players may not back out of a game to correct their settings once ten seconds have passed. After this time limit has passed, players must use their misconfigured settings, subject to tournament staff discretion.

• Force Majeure Clause
  
  

In the event of a game being interrupted by external, impartial conditions (e.g. power gets cut, safety concerns arise, etc.) the player at fault will forfeit the game (Considered a loss). If neither player is at fault for the interruption, the game will either continue from the same point once reasonably possible or reset with a designated stock count and percentage for each player, at the discretion of the TO.

• Final Rulings
  
  If any unforeseen situations occur, judgment of tournament staff is final. Rules may be altered between phases of a tournament in the best interests of the event. (Example: A game-breaking glitch is discovered on a stage mid-tournament that could be exploited. The stage may need to be removed from legal play for the remainder of the event.)

1. 
   Game Rules

• Game Settings

• Stock and time are set to 3 stock and 7 minutes
• Final Smash Meter: Off
• Spirits: Off
• Damage Handicap: Off
• Stage Selection: Anyone
• Items: Off and None
• First to: 1 Win
• Stage Morph: Off
• Stage Hazards: Off
• Launch Rate: 1.0x
• Underdog Boost: Off
• Pausing: Off
• Score Display: Off
• % Show Damage: Yes
• Custom Balance: Off
• Mii Fighters: All moveset combinations are legal

Should Pause be set to ON, for whatever reason, and a player pauses either accidentally or on purpose, the player who initiated the pause must forfeit a stock. The same penalty will be applied if you press the home button on those controllers that have them.

• Stage List

Starter Stages

• Battlefield*
• Town & City
• Small Battlefield
• Pokémon Stadium 2
• Smashville

Counterpick Stages

• Kalos Pokémon Stadium
  • Final Destination*
• Hollow Bastion

* Battlefield and Omega variations of the stages are allowed when a player chooses either Battlefield or Final Destination respectively. The only exception is stages that force a 2D-flattening (Dream Land GB, Duck Hunt, Flatzone X, Hanebow, Mario Maker, Mute City SNES & Pac-Land).

• Additional Rules
  
  

• Counterpick Stage Banning
  
  After each game of the set, before counterpicking, the player who won the previous game may ban three stages from the full stage list. These bans do not persist throughout the set. The loser of the previous game then chooses from the remaining stages.
  
  If Final Destination or Battlefield is chosen as a stage, a variant may be chosen by either player, following the list of banned variants listed in 2.2.
  
  

• Music Selection Clause
  
  The player who chooses the stage for each game of the set can choose to either select the music, let the game pick randomly, or permit the opponent to select the music, with music exceptions at the TO’s discretion. The opponent may veto the music choice for any of the following reasons:

• The player selecting the music is not listening to game audio

• The player selecting the music is not using headphones or an external speaker to listen to game audio while the opponent is. 

• The music selected is any of the following tracks:
  • Gamer
  • 25m Theme
  • Electroplankton
  • Deluge Dirge
  • Environmental Noises
  • Retro Medleys (Kid Icarus, Namco, and Famicom, etc)

If a set is taking place at a stream setup, the TO and/or Stream Producer may veto any music choice for any reason. The following tracks are not allowed to be selected when playing at a stream setup:

• Gamer
• 25m Theme
• Electroplankton
• Deluge Dirge
• Environmental Noises
• Retro Medleys (Kid Icarus, Namco, and Famicom, etc)

If a player repeatedly ignores this rule, they will face escalating consequences, ranging from verbal warning to event disqualification.

• Glitch Clause
  
  

If anything occurs within any game that results in unforeseen consequences (e.g. characters become invisible, sudden teleportation occurs, characters become affixed to other bodies, etc.), gameplay should continue uninterrupted unless the change renders the game unplayable for one or more players. In this situation, players should inform their pool captain or tournament staff for resolution.

• Mii Fighter Clause

Any player who intends to use a Mii during a set must declare so before the set. Players are required to inform their opponent of their chosen Mii’s moveset, listed in the format “XXXX.” Any combination of moves may be used, but any movesets that any player may want to use during a set must be created before the set begins.

• Offstage Stalling Clause (Chicago Stalling Rule)

Offstage stalling is defined as intentionally remaining offstage for an extended amount of time with little to no counterplay available to the opponent. Any player that uses a single special move more than five times without returning to stage(NOT the ledge) is subject to the following penalties:

• On first occurrence, forfeiture of the current stock
• On second occurrence, automatic loss of the current game
• On third occurrence, immediate disqualification from the tournament

• Patch

Tournaments will use whatever the patch is currently live when the tournament takes place.