Editing Sudden Death

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[[File:SSBU Sudden Death.jpg|thumb|A '''Sudden Death''' match in ''[[Ultimate]]'' between {{SSBU|Little Mac}} and {{SSBU|Marth}}, with flames surrounding them.]]

'''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.

In matches with three or more players, Sudden Death will only occur with the players who are tied for first place.

When Sudden Death occurs, the words "Sudden Death" will appear on-screen with the [[announcer]] calling it, followed by the "GO!" signal, and the match will restart with only the players involved in the tie, all of whom are given one [[stock]] and 300% [[damage]], effectively turning almost any attack with knockback into [[one-hit KO]]s. In effect, this makes it so the first player to land a hit on their opponent(s) wins Sudden Death and therefore the match. With the exception of the original ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' and certain stages in various games, items will not spawn at this time even if they are turned on. If the battle is in [[Stamina Mode]], all players will have 1 HP instead of 300 percent.

From ''Melee'' to ''Smash 4'', if nobody wins after roughly 20 seconds, [[Bob-omb]]s begin to fall from the sky to speed up the match. Unlike the Bob-omb items, these immediately explode on contact with any surface or player. In ''Melee'', the Bob-ombs act a little differently than in other games - they have no animation for appearing and can explode in mid-air without touching anything. As all players have 300% damage, getting hit by a Bob-omb is essentially an instant KO; however, with precise timing, players can grab Bob-ombs in midair with [[air dodge]]s or [[tech]] on any walls. Prior to ''Smash 4'', it is possible for a falling Bob-omb to instantly KO a player by launching them toward a side [[blast line]] while the other player is currently being sent flying by a [[Screen KO]] or [[Star KO]], causing the latter player to win the match in the middle of their KO animation; in ''Smash 4'', Star and Screen KOs normally no longer occur during Sudden Death.

In ''Ultimate'', the camera will start at a fixed position and gradually zoom in from the center of the stage from the start of Sudden Death, with the [[blast zone]] shrinking alongside it until the camera itself is zoomed in very closely, a mechanic known as "Screen Shrink" that is similarly used by the [[Squid Sisters]]. The screen also now has flames around it from corner to corner, surrounding the center. Once the screen is zoomed in, Bob-ombs will start dropping after several seconds to eliminate players lingering for too long.  

 

In ''SSB4'''s {{b|Tourney|SSB4-Wii U}} mode, Sudden Death did not occur in Regular Tourneys and could be disabled in player-made Tourneys as well. If a tie occurred when Sudden Death was disabled, victory was awarded to the player who dealt the most damage throughout the match.

If a Sudden Death occurs in a tournament, it is usually ignored and the winner is decided by other factors. Using Sudden Death as a tiebreaker brings with it a number of complications:

#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.

SuperSmashBros SuddenDeath.png|Sudden Death screen in ''Super Smash Bros.''

Melee-SuddenDeath.png|Sudden Death screen in ''Melee''.

Sudden Death (SSBB).PNG|Sudden Death screen in ''Brawl''.

Sudden Death (Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS).jpg|Sudden Death screen in ''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS''.

Sudden Death (Super Smash Bros. for Wii U).jpg|Sudden Death screen in ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U''.

Sudden Death (Super Smash Bros. Ultimate).jpg|Sudden Death screen in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''.

*The [[crowd]] is silent during Sudden Death in all games (with the exception of ''SSB4'').

*Players can trigger Sudden Death in untimed stock matches by using [[sacrificial KO]]s with two players remaining (though in ''Smash 4'' and ''Ultimate'', attackers are KO'd first for most sacrificial KOs), or by having players stand on a falling horizontal platform that surpasses the lower [[blast line]]. In ''Smash 64'', the player who has the highest controller port (closest to port 4) always wins, without matches even going to Sudden Death.

*Oddly, ties will not result in Sudden Death in ''Melee'' if the game is run in {{SSBM|debug mode}}. The game simply returns to the debug menu after the match.

*The Bob-ombs that appear in Sudden Death will always appear over the stage from random points below the ceiling. Thus, if a character can suspend themselves above the upper [[blast line]] (for example, by using a {{b|ladder|technique}}) or certain{{fact}} platforms, then they can avoid the Bob-ombs indefinitely.

** In ''Smash 4'', {{SSB4|King Dedede}} and {{SSB4|Kirby}} can also survive the Bob-ombs indefinitely regardless of their damage percent, by using their custom moves [[Armored Jet Hammer]] and [[Giant Hammer]], as both provide indefinite [[Armor|Super Armor]]. This doesn't work in other Smash games.

*In {{for3ds}}, in a [[time]]d match with no score display, the player can actually determine if the match will go into Sudden Death or not. If it is, the damage meters for the fighters going in Sudden Death stay on the bottom screen; if not, they fade away. In addition, if a match is going to go into Sudden Death, the stereoscopic 3D will stay at full strength during the "TIME!" signal. If the match isn't going to Sudden Death, the 3D effect will dissipate, the background and foreground merging into a flat image before the screen breaks into the results section.

**A similar thing can be done for the Wii U version: if going into Sudden Death, the match will still keep going at normal speed during the "TIME!" signal.

*In [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2doHqnACae0 early builds] of ''Super Smash Bros. 4'', Star KOs and Screen KOs still occurred during Sudden Death.

*In {{forwiiu}} and ''Ultimate'', if Sudden Death occurs in the [[Boxing Ring]], then the scrolling LED panel and jumbotron will say "SUDDEN DEATH".