Character selection...?

[theGreatDekuTree]

How does character selection work in a basic tourney? do you choose one main and stick to them throughout the whole thing? when do counter picks come into play?

who picks first in a 1v1 match?
and who picks the stage that will be played on?
please explain to the best of your abilities

[AlphaZealot]

view the SBR recommended rulelist in Tournament Listings. That is the basic template most tournaments follows, with slight variations on which stages are allowed.

But, for the heck of it:
Set Format (in order of procedure)
1. Opponents choose their characters for the first match *
2. Each player may announce one stage to be banned for the entirety of the set
3. The first stage will be played at random from the Random Stage List **
4. The loser of the previous match announces the next match's stage from either the Random Stage List or the Counter Stage List
5. The winner of the previous match chooses their character
6. The loser of the previous match chooses their character
7. Repeat steps 4-7 for all proceeding matches
*Double blind character selection may be called for this match
**Opponents may instead agree upon a random stage

Taken from:
http://smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=137382