Tournament rulesets (SSBM)

Tournament legal describes the settings that can be used in competitive Super Smash Bros. Melee tournaments. Because some stages, settings and rulesets can lkead to degenerative gameplay, tournament organizers have generally agreed on enforcing the following conditions in tournament play:

1-on-1

• Usually, sets between players are best 2 out of 3 matches (using 3 out of 5 or 4 out of 7 for final rounds)
• The first match is played with a random stage

• The random select is comprised of neutral stages:

• Yoshi's Story
• Fountain of Dreams
• Pokémon Stadium
• Battlefield
• Dream Land (N64)
• Final Destination

• In some tournaments, players are given the option to "strike" stages from the random select

• Characters are chosen double-blind - at the same time, so that neither player knows his opponent's character beforehand. In practice, this rule is often ignored, but players always reserve the option to force a double-blind pick
• The loser of the first match (and of successive matches) chooses the next stage, and then the winner chooses his character, and then the loser chooses his character. This series of choices is called slob picks.

• The loser cannot pick any banned stages:

• Great Bay
• Icicle Mountain
• Hyrule Temple
• Brinstar Depths
• Fourside
• Yoshi's Island (N64)

• As with the first match, in some tournaments players can strike stages from the opponent's selection

• Each match is played with timed stock, usually 3 to 5 lives and 6 to 10 minutes
• Items are turned off

2-on-2

• Rules that apply to 1-on-1 apply to team tournaments as well

• Neutral stages are different:

• Yoshi's Story
• Pokémon Stadium
• Battlefield
• Dream Land (N64)
• Final Destination

• Banned stages are different:

• Great Bay
• Fountain of Dreams
• Mute City
• Icicle Mountain
• Hyrule Temple
• Brinstar Depths
• Yoshi's Island (N64)

• Team attack (also known as friendly fire) is on
• Usually, players are allowed to "steal lives" from their teammates by pressing start after they die