12 & Under Tournament Questions

[Micesmack]

Hi guys,

I am a long time lurker, but a first time poster. I work with a lot of kids, and I am having a get together that is primarily centered around Smash 4 for Wii U for kids 12 and under.

We will have Melee & Project M as side events, but the kids are mostly excited about playing the new Smash Brothers game.

(If it looks like I have put a lot of thought into it already, I have. I host smash fests with semi-competitives, and I also have had a couple events with these kids before, but the tournament part goes poorly so I would appreciate feedback)

We will have 2 set ups for Smash Wii U, and I would like to run a tournament for the kids in Smash 4. As the title says, most of these kids are under age 12, the ones who have played are familiar with Brawl of course, and some of them have not played at all. I am expecting 20+ kids to show up at this event.

My Goals for this Tournament

- I want it to be a fun and dynamic event for the kids there. We are putting one set up on a giant projector screen to help create hype for the kids. I want them to feel like their tournament matches are a big deal.

- I am trying to create a ruleset that gives most kids a fair chance of performing well, but does not punish better players too much. (Basically I don't want Zachary and Nick who are 12 play frequently stomping all over my 6 year olds, though this may be inevitable.)

- I want to run a tournament efficiently for the 20+ kids, but I cannot do an elimination tournament because some kids would be eliminated too quickly, and I would have to wait another hour or so for the others to finish up.

My Proposed Ruleset

If some seasoned tournament guys could look over this ruleset and point out flaws, I would be appreciated.

3 Stocks
1v1
Custom Characters & Equipment OFF (I do not have time to let them all create custom characters)
Swiss Style Tournament
Top Four after 6 rounds will square off in a Bracket

My Questions

Best of 3?

Obviously best of 3 gives kids a better amount of time to play, and it decreases salt levels because a kid gets a second chance after dying to some BS, but I am worried it might take too long. We have a few hours to devote to the tourney, but with only 2 set ups, I question how quickly we will be able to move through the tournament.

Items

Many of the kids wonder why we don't play with Smash Balls. Some of them complain about the lack of Items to a lesser extent, but really they like the smash ball. The problem is, even when you put on Smash Ball only on low, it still comes out very frequently. I don't mind them having the Smash Ball, but even items on low gives you an item at least once per stock, and that is too frequent to have Smash Ball as your only item.

I've come up with an item list that I think solves this problem. I've taken out any and all of the insta kill items (Smash Ball notwithstanding, due to popularity & you have to fight over it) or any item that can give an unfair advantage.

Banned
Assist Trophy, Barrel, Beehive, Beetle, Blast Box, Blue Shell, Bomb Omb, Bombchu, Bumper, Capsule, Crates, Cuccos, Deku Nut, Drill Arm, Fairy Bottle, Freezie, Galagan Bugs, Golden Hammer, Gooey Bomb, Gust Bellows, Hammer, Heart Container, Hocotate Bomb, Home Run Bat, Hot Head, Killer Eye, Lightning Bolt, Max Tomato, Mushroom, Metal Box, Motion Sensor Bomb, Poke/Master Ball, Poison Mushroom, Pow Block, Rally Flag, Rocket Belt, Screw Attack, Smart Bomb, Soccer Bal, Star Rod, Super Leaf, Super Mushroom, Super Spicy Curry, Team Healer, Timer, Treasure Chest, Unria, Wii Fit Soccer Ball, X Bomb.

Allowed
Smash Ball, Back Shield, Banana Peel, Beam Sword, Boomerang, Bullet Bill, Bunny Hood, Fire Bar, Fire Flower, Food, Franklin Badge, Green Koopa Shell, Lip's Stick, Mr. Saturn, Ore Club, Parasol, Pitfall, Ray Gun, Sand Bag, Steel Diver, Smoke Ball, Spring, Star Rod, Super Scope, Warp Star

Stages

Certain Stages are too big and will be banned. Certain stages have entirely too much jank, and will be banned. And there are certain stages that are perfectly balanced. But kids don't think in terms of camping or walk offs as being unfair, so I think I can let certain stages slide. Here is what I'm thinking.

The best way to save time, is to have everyone play match 1 on Battlefield, and then have a set of Legal stages that the loser picks, and a set of banned stages. IDK if I want to do teams yet, but if there is enough interest, I think it could be fun.

Starter
Battlefield

Loser Picks
Final D + Any Omega
Battlefield
Smashville
Lylat Cruise
Town & City
Kongo Jungle
Halberd
Wuhu Island
Duck Hunt
Skyloft
Delfino
Luigis Mansion
Mario Kart 8 Circuit
Mario Circuit
Port Town AD
Pokemon Stadium 2
Castle Siege
Norfair
Orbital Gate Assault
Wii Fit
Pilotwings
Mushroom Kingdom U
Wooly World
Onet
Lylat Cruise
Bridge of Eldin
Skyworld

Teams Only
Jungle Hijinks
Coliseum
Big Battlefield
Windy Hill
Boxing Ring
Mario Galaxy
Hyrule Temple
Yoshi's Island


Banned
Gaur Plains: Stupid middle gap...
75 m: Too many hazards, not competitive at all
Flat Zone: Too many hazards
Wrecking Crew: So many obstacles get in the way and make this stage a boring chore
Pac Land: This one is actually very impressive. It takes a lot to be the worst stage in Smash Brother's history! *Claps*
Garden of Hope: Obstacles, dangerous crab, not really fun...
Pyrosphere: Ridley OP *cries*
Mega Man: Yellow Devil OP *cries*
Palutena's Temple: Size
Great Cave Offensive: Size + Hazards
Gamer: Mom is too strong + this stage promotes a lot of camping and sitting still



Any and all advice from current TO's is greatly appreciated.

 

[WT!]

I'm hosting a tournament for middle and high school students in TSA (Technology Student Association, not Transportation Security Administration), and we have a similar dilemma. There are a decent amount of established competitive players in the club but there are also 11 year olds who play with sideways wiimote with tap jump and shake smash and rumble on and think Kirby is the best and such. Our plan? Keep the welcoming feel, but no slack on the rules. We will provide interactive explanations and remain open to answering "why this rule" questions. At the end of the day, whether or not some of the kids like the ruleset at first, they will at least understand it by the end, and they are going to have fun.

 

[Mikkelmann]

This is really cool my friend did kinda the idea you did so I like this a lot.

 

[Micesmack]

I'm hosting a tournament for middle and high school students in TSA (Technology Student Association, not Transportation Security Administration), and we have a similar dilemma. There are a decent amount of established competitive players in the club but there are also 11 year olds who play with sideways wiimote with tap jump and shake smash and rumble on and think Kirby is the best and such. Our plan? Keep the welcoming feel, but no slack on the rules. We will provide interactive explanations and remain open to answering "why this rule" questions. At the end of the day, whether or not some of the kids like the ruleset at first, they will at least understand it by the end, and they are going to have fun.

So you would say keep the regular rules and tell the kids to deal?

 

[WT!]

So you would say keep the regular rules and tell the kids to deal?

Not exactly, that's... not really what we're doing. The idea of the tournament is to raise money for TSA, and have fun, but also to introduce them competitive play. Also, by saying "they're going to have fun", I only mean that no matter what the rules are, it will be a fun experience because it's smash bros and everybody loves smash bros.

 

[MrJeff]

Don't rule out 4-player matches. They aren't standard for most tournaments, but it allows more people to play per setup, and it isn't an unusual format for kids who aren't used to competitive play. My first tournament was a 4-player one, and it was a lot of fun.

 

[WT!]

Actually even when I was a 7-year old casual we believed that 4 players was just too much, and instead played 3 player ones when the number of people gave it sense.

 

[The Monochrome Leader]

Darn... I would actually join this! (Being a 12 year old)

Too bad I don't live in America...

*cheers to me wishing that there will be a online 3ds version of this*

 

[Sheep McLamb]

Don't worry that much about the competitive side of your tournament. This is for kids, after all. I think your tournament will be fun for the kids participating. Good luck!