Time out

Not to be confused with pause.

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A time out in Melee's Time mode. The winner will be decided via points.

A time out is an event within the Smash Bros. series wherein the clock of a given match runs out. In practise, the concept is required for Time, Coin, and Bonus matches, as the game modes require the player to perform specific tasks within the time limit in order to win, though it is possible to play unwinnable matches via forgoing a time limit. Within stock matches, matches can also be won via timing out, though this requires the match itself to have a time limit on it.

If there is a tie of any sort in all game modes, Sudden Death occurs.

In tournaments

By default, the tournament ruleset for all three games in the series requires a time limit in the stock matches; as Super Smash Bros. lacks an ability to do this, such matches are often played with an observer using an external stopwatch, or an ordinary time match is played, with the match ending after one player has been KO'd a specific number of times.

Under most circumstances, a time out in tournament play causes the player with more stock winning the match; assuming both players or teams have equivalent stock, then the player or team with less damage is declared the winner. Under the rare circumstance that the players or teams have identical damage or otherwise tie a match outside of timing out, a one stock rematch is played on the same stage with the same characters.

The legitamacy of timing out as a strategy, however, is controversial. Some smashers have claimed that timing out is a cheap and unsportsmanlike tactic, and the tactic has also been described as requiring camping and stalling in order to work, both of which are unpopular methods to play. Other smashers, however, claim that winning via time outs requires its own strategy to consistently pull off, and that characters with relatively poor KOing ability, such as Samus and Sonic, require the use of timing out in order to remain competitive.

The effectiveness of timing out depends mostly on the length of time specified by the ruleset; the more time is allowed, the less viable timing out is. At the same time however, time limits longer than a certain point do nothing but make matches run longer than necessary; if a player is successfully camping out the opponent, an extra few minutes does nothing but lessen the opponent's drive to counter and delay the camper's win.