Editing Sudden Death

'''Sudden Death''' ({{ja|サドンデス|Sadon Desu}}, ''Sudden Death'') occurs when any [[VS. mode]] match ends in a tie. A tie happens when at least two characters or teams have the same final [[score]] at the end of a [[Time]] match, the same amount of stocks at the end of a timed [[Stock]] or [[Stamina]] match, the same amount of [[Smash Coins and Bills|coins]] at the end of a [[Coin Battle]], or the same total score at the end of a {{B|Bonus|mode}} match. In an untimed Stock or Stamina match, Sudden Death is possible if all remaining characters lose their last stock on the same frame.

#As a Sudden Death match is always untimed, while each player is disincentivized from [[approach]]ing when a single hit will very likely KO them, and with the raining Bob-ombs making it hazardous to stay on the stage for long, [[camping]] with projectiles and [[planking]] become dominant strategies. This can result in the match going on for an indefinite length of time, as each player simply [[stall]]s in a place where they are sheltered from the Bob-ombs and waits for their opponent to make a mistake, and nothing can force the match to end. ''Ultimate'' does address this by rapidly shrinking the blast zones during Sudden Death, forcing players onto the stage as eventually the entire offstage area will be swallowed by the shrinking blast zones, but this does nothing about the other two reasons.

#Character balance is severely skewed. In an environment where almost any attack can KO, frail characters with fast attacks and projectiles have a massive advantage over characters whose main advantage is normally in greater KO power and survivability. For example, [[Sheik]] or [[Sonic]] are able to quickly strike their opponent to near-instantly win before the opponent can retaliate, whereas [[Bowser]] or [[Ganondorf]] would have major problems trying to hit their opponent before they themselves are hit, while their massive KO power and very heavy [[weight]] are rendered meaningless.

#As Sudden Death in timed Stock matches is based solely on the flat number of stocks remaining, it becomes a viable strategy for a player who is tied in stocks with their opponent but far behind in damage to intentionally stall out the clock until Sudden Death occurs, thus eliminating the damage difference and giving themselves a chance to take the game with just one [[neutral game|neutral]] win. Players generally agree this is an unfair way to stage a comeback, allowing someone who was clearly outplayed to suddenly win a match with a single weak blow. An infamous example of this occurring was in the Grand Finals set between {{Sm|ZeRo}} and {{Sm|Hungrybox}} at the {{Trn|Super Smash Bros. Invitational}}; the Invitational, while having standard competitive rules for its Grand Finals match, used Sudden Death to resolve a stock tie. ZeRo, being aware of this, intentionally spent the remainder of the match running away and avoiding confrontation when Hungrybox took a significant percent lead on their last stock. With Hungrybox playing the sluggish {{SSB4|Kirby}} against ZeRo's much more agile {{SSB4|Zero Suit Samus}}, he was unable to land a finishing blow before time ran out despite his significant percent lead, leading to Sudden Death where ZeRo then won by just being able to land a single grab, despite clearly losing the match beforehand.

Should Sudden Death occur in a tournament, the winner is declared by some other criteria depending on context. In the most common cause of the clock expiring while both players are tied in remaining stocks, the player with the lower damage percentage wins, emulating how conventional fighting games handle time outs by rewarding victory to the player with more remaining health. In the rare event of both players having equal stock and damage, or both players are KO'd simultaneously on their last stock, the winner is determined through a one-stock rematch with the same characters on the same stage. However, either is such a rare occurrence, that it sometimes never crosses the mind of [[tournament organizer]]s, which leads to panic when there is no rule in place for the rare instances these two scenarios occur. If both players are KO'd at the same time due to a sacrificial KO via a [[command grab]] such as [[Flying Slam]] and [[Flame Choke]], tournaments sometimes have a rule that declares the initiator the winner, instead of holding a one-stock rematch. While this rule was popular in the ''Brawl'' era, it rarely sees usage since the release of ''Smash 4'', and it never sees usage in ''Ultimate'', where all sacrificial KO moves are intentionally designed to KO the initiator first.