Author: Tantalus
Contributors: BAM, Bear, Blind, Champ, Citi, D1, Joe Barrels, Martakia, Shaun Byrne, Tantalus, TLTC, TMPR, Vayseth, Zan
Template Created by Nintendude

Smash for Wii U Ruleset 2017

Author's note: This ruleset is what will be put in place for a large majority of the major tournament events in 2017. This is our recommended guideline for any tournament organizer looking for a “standardized” ruleset to follow. Additionally, this document will not be covering conduct rules directly, but rules specific to the game itself, as conduct rules change based on the event and the venue.

A.        Tournament Rules

  1. Set Length

All tournament sets will be a best-of-3 games, until a top cut where games are extended to best-of-5 games. The recommended top cut is 3.125%, for example, the top 32 in a 1024 entrant bracket, or the top 16 in a 512 entrant bracket.

  1. Set Procedure
  1. Players select their characters. Either player may elect to do Double Blind Character Selection (see section 1.4)
  2. Use Starter Stage Striking to determine the first stage
  3. The players play the first game of the set
  4. Winning player of the preceding game strikes a stage (when applicable).The losing player of the preceding game picks a stage for the next game
  5. The winning player of the preceding game may choose to change characters.
  6. The losing player of the preceding game may choose to change characters.
  7. The next game is played.
  8. Repeat Steps 4 through 8 for all subsequent games until the set is complete.
  1. 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.
  2. Double Blind Character Selection
    Either player may request that a double blind selection occur. In this situation, a referee or third party will be told, in secret, of each player’s choices for the first round. Both players are to then select their first round character, with the referee validating the character selections.

  1. Stage Striking
    Players play a best-of-1 Rock-Paper-Scissors, and winner may choose to either strike a stage first or select a port first. Stages are stuck in a P1-P2-P2-P1 order.

  1. Pausing
    Pause setting should be off. However, if it is not, pausing is only legal while either player remains upon their OWN respawn platform, and only for the purpose of summoning a tournament official or in the case of a controller malfunction. All other pauses will incur a stock loss to the player who pauses the game. If the pause causes the opponent to lose a stock, the player who pauses forfeits 2 stocks.
  2. Stalling
    Stalling, or intentionally making the game unplayable, is banned and at the discretion of tournament staff. Stalling includes but is not limited to becoming invisible, continuing infinites past 300%, and reaching a position that your opponent can never reach you. Stalling will result in a forfeit of the game for the player that initiated the action.

  1. Self-Destruct Moves
    If a game ends with a self-destruct move, the results screen will determine the winner. If a sudden death occurs, standard sudden death rules apply (see 1.9).
  2. 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.

  1. Stock Sharing
    Taking an partner’s stock is allowed in doubles.
  2. “Grab and Go” Clause
    In doubles, players may not switch controllers with their teammate.
  3. Missing Teammate Clause
    If a player’s teammate is not present for a game, the match may not continue until their teammate arrives. They may not play a 2v1 or play with a CPU.
  4. Alting
    You will be immediately disqualified from the tournament with no refunds if you 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 before prior to the registration end date.

  1. Character Color/Team Color Selection

If there is a dispute in character colors or team colors (i.e. both players want to use green fox), the players will play one RPS game to determine who gets the color.

  1. Team Color Clause

When in Doubles play, players must choose character costumes that are similar to their team color. Example: 2 ROB players on red team would use the Red Rob and the Rob with red arms. In the case of a character that doesn’t have a color option (Example: there is no blue fox color), we recommend those teams use a color that is available to that character.

  1. Team Color Request Clause
    Players may request that their opponent change colors to accommodate colorblindness or if their color is indistinguishable from either the other team color or the stage background. The request must be made before the game starts. Example: Request Cloud to pick green team to be able to distinguish if limit is charged, or having sonic on blue team to prevent confusion.
  2. Warm-ups
    Warm-up periods, button checks, and “handwarmers” may not exceed 30 seconds on the game clock. Violation of this rule may result in an automatic forfeit at the discretion of the TO.

  1. Counterpicking

Each Player is designated 30 seconds between each game to notify their opponent of their counterpick. If no counterpick is selected in this time frame, a judge should be engaged and the counterpicking player will receive a game loss.

  1. Coaching Violations
    Coaching is not permitted during the duration of a tournament set. If coaching occurs during this window, they will receive penalties as outlined below:
  • 1st offense (minor): Verbal warning to the player and the coach. This warning persists for the entire event.
  • 2nd offense (major): Player receives a game loss.
  • 3rd offense (severe): Player and offending coach receive complete disqualification from the event

Guideline for violations

Cheering - Nondescript statements such as “Lets Go!”, “You got this!”, or “mess them up!”. These are not violations.

Minor violation - General statements such as  “Play Slow”, “Take your time” or “Hit him!”

Major violation - Specific statements pointing out habits, specific options, or timings such as “Watch for his neutral getup!”, “His waft is almost ready!” or “He keeps rolling!”

Severe violation - Physical interference to either player.

Tournament Staff reserve the right to judge on what is deemed “coaching” and the severity of the violation.

                

  1. Tardiness
    Anyone who is not present for their set by 15 minutes past the scheduled start time is subject to a total disqualification from the event.
  2. Collusion
    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.
  3. Misinterpretation/Misconfiguration
    Games or sets are not to be replayed due to a misinterpretation of the rules OR misconfiguration of game 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 reserved for tournament staff.

  1. 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. Thus, the stage may need to be removed from legal play for the remainder of the event.)

B.        Game Rules

  1. Game Settings

  • Stock and time are set to 2 stock and 6 minutes for Singles
  • Stock and time are set to 3 stock and 8 minutes for Doubles
  • Handicap: Off
  • Team Attack: On
  • Damage Ratio: 1.0x
  • Items: Off and None
  • Pause: Off
  • Custom Fighters and Custom Moves are set to off
  • All DLC characters are legal
  • Mii Fighters are legal. Each setup will have 1-1-1-1 Mii Brawlers/Swordsmen/Gunners available for use (Using a Default Mii). No other specials for Mii Fighters will be allowed. Players are not allowed to transfer existing Miis to a setup. In the case of doubles, Default Guest Miis should be picked to match the color of the team you are playing on.

  1. Stage List

Starter Stages

  • Battlefield*
  • Final Destination**
  • Lylat Cruise
  • Smashville
  • Town & City

Counterpick Stages

  • Dream Land 64*
  • Omega Stages**

* Treated as Battlefield. If Battlefield is struck/banned, Dream Land 64 is also struck/banned and vice-versa.

** Treated as Final Destination in striking phase. If Final Destination is struck, Omega Stages are struck and vice versa. You may only choose the following Omega Stages: Palutena’s Temple, Suzaku Castle and Wily Castle.

  1. Additional Rules

  1. Starter Stage Striking
    See section 1.5 for details on choosing who strikes first. Players may strike from the legal starter stages (each person strikes stages in a 1-2-1 format) to determine the starting stage for the first game.

  2. Counterpick Stage Striking
    After each game of the set, before counterpicking, the player who won the previous game may strike one stage from either the starter or counterpick list. This strike does not persist throughout the set.

  1. Stage Clause
    A player/team may not pick the last stage they previously won on during the set.

  2. Controllers
    For ease of access, Tournament Staff recommends the use of the Nintendo Gamecube controller, however, The Wii U Pro controller (Battery removed), Wii Remote, Wii Remote + Nunchuck, Wii Remote + Classic Controller, and the Nintendo 3DS Family in controller mode are all permitted control options. Turbo/Macro options on controllers are banned. Box variants of the gcc are currently permitted so long as they do not have macros/turbo enabled.

  1. Controller Interference

If your controller is found to be the cause of disruption to the tournament (mid-game or otherwise), you are subject to complete disqualification from the event.