This is the ruleset for SSBB. For other rulesets and general info on tournament legal settings, see Tournament legal.

Tournament legal describes the rules and settings that are accepted for use in competitive Smash tournaments. The following rule set is the standard, based on competitive philosophy.

Contents 1 Bracket Rules 2 Game Settings 2.1 Set Format 2.2 2v2 Team Battle Rules 3 Stages 3.1 First Round 3.2 Additional Rounds 3.3 Optional 3.4 Banned 4 Stage List 4.1 First Round 4.2 Additional Rounds 4.3 Optional 4.4 Banned 5 Stage Selection 5.1 Notes 5.2 Local, Regional, & Community Rules 5.2.1 The Law of the Land 5.3 Additional Rulings 5.3.1 Player Issues 5.3.2 Hardware Issues 5.3.3 Clarifications 5.3.4 Community Statutes 5.4 Optional Rules 5.5 Related Articles 5.6 External links

Bracket RulesEdit

• Brackets: Double Elimination
• Sets: Best 2 wins of 3 rounds
• Rounds: The winner of a Round is the Player who's character is shown as the winner on the end screen.

• Upper Finals: Best 3 wins of 5 rounds
• Lower Finals: Best 3 win of 5 rounds
• Grand Finals: Best 3 of 5 rounds

Note: In Grand Finals, the Player coming from the lower brackets must win 2 sets, whereas the Player in the upper brackets is only required to win one set.

Game SettingsEdit

• 3 stock.
• 8 minutes.
• Items: None (additionally all Items are toggled: OFF)
• Team Attack: ON
• Pause: OFF
• Stages: All "First Round" Stages toggled: ON; all others toggled: OFF.

Set FormatEdit

• All players agree to the characters to be played.
  • If players cannot agree to the characters, double-blind will be employed by a referee.
• Players agree to a non-banned Stage to be played on.
  • If Players cannot agree to a Stage, the Referee shall oversee a random selection from the Beginning Stages.
• Additional rounds of play:
  • The Loser of the previous round announces the Stage that will be played.
  • The winner of the previous round selects their character by placing their Player Token on the Character they will be playing (Once the Player Token is down and verbally confirmed the Character cannot be changed).
  • The Loser of the Previous round selects their Character.
  • The Loser of the Previous round starts the next round of play by selecting/confirming the Stage chosen in the game after the correct Characters have been set.

2v2 Team Battle RulesEdit

• 3 stock.
• 8 minutes.
• Items: None (additionally all Items are toggled: OFF)
• Team Attack: ON
• Pause: OFF
• Stages: All "First Round" Stages toggled: ON; all others toggled: OFF.

StagesEdit

Stages are based on Competitive Play. That is, a set criteria is used as the standard for which Stages are available to use by Players, specific to the round of play.

The availability of Stages are defined as:

• First Round
• Additional Rounds
• Optional
• Banned

First RoundEdit

This is the list of Stages that shall be Toggled ON, that is allowed to be used for the first round of competition. Toggling these Stages ON will allow for the computer to use them in a random choice, if needed.

Additional RoundsEdit

This is the list of Stages that may be used on any round of play after the First Round. Stage choice shall be determined by the loser of the previous round before Characters are chosen.

OptionalEdit

These are Stages are not to be played on unless ALL players involved in the match explicitly agree to the Stage (a referee must be notified of the stage to be used or the round of play may be nullified at referee discretion).

Optionally, the TO may move any number or all of these optional stages to the "Banned" list.

BannedEdit

These stages are not to be Toggled: ON or allowed to be listed in the Optional nomenclature. Any round of competition played on one of these listed banned stages shall be nullified, no player will have scored a win or loss if it is listed on a banned stage list.

Stage ListEdit

First RoundEdit

• Battlefield
• Final Destination
• Smashville

Additional RoundsEdit

• Battlefield
• Final Destination
• Smashville
• Lylat Cruise
• Yoshi's Island

OptionalEdit

• Pokémon Stadium (Melee)
• Castle Siege
• Delfino Plaza
• Frigate Orpheon
• Pictochat
• Rainbow Cruise

BannedEdit

• 75m
• Big Blue (Melee)
• Bridge of Eldin
• Corneria (Melee)
• Flat Zone 2
• Mario Bros.
• Mushroomy Kingdom (1-1 and 1-2)
• New Pork City
• Onett (Melee)
• Rumble Falls
• Shadow Moses Island
• Skyworld
• Spear Pillar
• Summit
• Temple (Melee)
• WarioWare, Inc.
• Port Town Aero Dive
• Yoshi's Island (Melee)
• Luigi's Mansion
• Pirate Ship
• Jungle Japes
• Norfair
• Green Greens
• Pokémon Stadium 2
• Distant Planet
• Brinstar
• Mario Circuit
• Green Hill Zone
• Hanenbow
• Halberd (seems to have been used for some Apex rounds though...)

Note: All Custom Stages are banned from tournaments.

Stage SelectionEdit

Selection of the Stage to be used must be fair to all players (not characters) involved in the match. There must be an agreement on which Stage will be used. All Players must agree

Stage Selection is determined as follows:

First Round

1. Players agree to a non-banned Stage to be used.
2. Players who cannot come to an agreement shall use the in-game Random function so the game chooses which First Round Stage is used.

Additional Rounds

1. Loser of the previous round chooses which "First Round" or "Additional Rounds" #Stage will be used (see list below).

NotesEdit

• The BBR now recommends that the game's verdict should always be honored; a victory screen should decide the winner.
• The BBR is opposed to the institution of a Ledge Grab Limit of any number (for any character) for use in determining the winner of a match by time out.
• Although the BBR disapproves of players "coaching" other players during a tournament match, the universal and fair enforcement of a rule to prevent it appears to the BBR to be improbable.

Local, Regional, & Community RulesEdit

Local: Town, City, Neighborhood, etc,

Regions: Pacific Northwest, Pacific West, South, Midwest, Atlantic Northest, Atlantic Southeast, etc. National: Within the boundaries of a country.

Community: Within the boundaries of the Smash Community, composed of the individuals who play Smash competitively at tournaments both in person and networked.

The Law of the LandEdit

Community Rules set the Standard.

Regional rules trump Community Rules.

Local Rules trump Community Rules.

Competitive trumps casual.

Additional RulingsEdit

Player IssuesEdit

• Any disagreement between players are settled by a Referee
• Referee shall determine disagreements by a coin-flip or similar game of chance (such as Mr. Game & Watch's Judgement).
• Referees shall NOT determine disagreements by games of skill (e.g. Rock-Paper-Scissors).
• Sportsmanship: Any player may be disqualified due to unfashionable behavior (insults, verbal/physical attacks, etc.) as seen fit by the Tournament Host/Tournament Organizer(s)/Referee/Staff.

Hardware IssuesEdit

• All Players are responsible for the upkeep and condition of their own controllers and their names/button mapping.
• Controller ports are determined in a 1221 fashion (Where "1" and "2" are the two Teams competing listed in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th ports respectively).
• If there is a disagreement regarding ports it shall be resolved by a Referee with a coin-flip.

ClarificationsEdit

• The winning Player/Team is the Players/Team declared "winner" on the results screen.
• Stalling cannot be banned, as it is unenforceable (see Sirlin's Playing to Win).
• Glitches which are exploited so as to keep the game from resolving (e.g. Meta Knight's "Infinite Dimensional Cape Glitch") is banned from competitive play. Any player abusing such mechanics are subject to penalization by the TO/Referee.
• Any action that prevents the game from continuing violate competitive play and is subject to a penalization by the TO/Referee.
• Any actions which result in "freezing" will allow for Referee interaction to resolve the condition at the Referee's discretion. If it cannot be resolved by a Referee the round will be reset with neither player scoring a win for the round and the round shall be replayed.

Community StatutesEdit

• TO's Rule: The Tournament Organizer has final say in any matter, dispute, disagreement, or other discrepancy. The TO's word is final.
• Attendee's Voice: Those attending any tournament, festival, party, or gathering shall be rightfully heard out by the Tournament Organizer.
• All attending shall have the right to a safe and satisfying event in both their persons and their property.

Optional RulesEdit

• Stage Striking: For Players to come to an agreement on which First Round Stage to be used, Stage Striking is first offered. Players take turns striking out a stage until only one remains. The one that remains is the First Round Stage to be used by the Players.
• Stage Bans: TO's may offer the rule that a Stage may be "Player Banned". That is, after the First Round of play, both players/teams choose a non-banned Stage to be banned: Their opponent may not choose the player-chosen stage to be played used for Additional Rounds of play.
• Any Sudden Death may be treated as a "Tied round".
  • Tied rounds may be resolved by a 1 stock, 3 minute, same characters, same stage rematch.
• Colorblind Rule: In team games, it may be requested that certain characters be assigned a specific team color in order to prevent any unnecessary confusion. For instance, Sonic, Lucario, or Falco may be requested to be assigned the blue team.
• Port slob picks: On a player's counterpick, that player may choose to redo the port selection process, with that player/team picking their port first.
• Tardiness Policy: After a match has been called, if a player is 2 minutes late he will receive a warning. At 4 minutes late, he will be given a loss for the first game of the set. After 6 minutes, he will be given a loss of the entire set.

Related ArticlesEdit

• Tournament legal (SSB)
• Tournament legal (SSBM)
• Banned stage

External linksEdit

• Sirlin's "Playing to Win": [1]