The Unity Ruleset
-Version 1.3-
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The following ruleset was created by the BBR Ruleset Committee, which is made up by active, respected Tournament Organizers from around the United States. This will be considered the standard, universal ruleset for Brawl tournaments across the US. Any tournaments that do not follow this ruleset will not be eligible for stickies on SWF or featured coverage on AllisBrawl.
Changes to this ruleset can be made at any time and without warning, for which we will update the version based on the significance of the change. The Ruleset Committee will pay close attention to tournament trends, and if a persistent problem presents itself, the Ruleset Committee will address the issue and adapt the ruleset as necessary. If you are interested in being admitted to the BBR-RC, send your tournament resume to
AlphaZealot - you must however, have run 1 tournament with the Unity Ruleset in order to be eligible for admission.
General Gameplay Rules
- 3 Stocks
- 8 Minute Time Limit
- Items set to "Off" and "None"
- All infinites and chain grabs are legal.
- Meta Knight's Infinite Cape Glitch and Extended Cape Glitch are banned.
- There is a Ledge Grab Limit of 35 for Meta Knight and 50 for all other characters. If a game goes to time and one player goes over the Ledge Grab Limit for their character, they will automatically lose the game. If both players exceed their Ledge Grab Limit, then this rule is ignored.
- The act of stalling is banned: stalling is intentionally making the game unplayable: Such as becoming invisible, continuing infinites, chain grabs, or uninterruptible moves past 300%, and reaching a position that your opponent can never reach you.
- Any action that can prevent the game from continuing (i.e., freezing, disappearing characters, game reset, etc.) will result in a forfeit of that match for the player that initiated the action. You are responsible for knowing your own character, and must be wary about accidentally triggering one of these effects.
- If the Ledge Grab Limit does not declare one player the winner, the winner will be declared by what the game says in all situations, except for when players are presented with sudden death:
- In the event of a match going to time, the winner will be determined by who has less percent (stock difference still takes priority but will be shown in the results screen).
- If the match ends with both players dying at the same time (either coincidentally or via suicide move) or if time ran out with both players at equal percent, a one stock three minute rematch will be played on the same stage. For a tie-breaker match, a Ledge Grab Limit of 13 is used for Meta Knight, and 18 for all other characters.
- Team Attack set to "On"
- Life stealing is allowed.
- In the event of a game reaching the time limit, if a single player on a team exceeds their Ledge Grab Limit, that team loses. If one or more players on both teams exceed their Ledge Grab Limit, then the Ledge Grab Limit rule is ignored.
- In the event of a game going to time and the Ledge Grab Limit can not determine a winner and both teams have an equal amount of combined stocks, then whichever team has a lower combined percent is declared the winner.
- If a player is using the character Pokemon Trainer, Lucario, or Sonic, either team may request that team colors be changed to make it easier to tell the difference between team players.
- Player Priority is determined if it can not be agreed on. (See below for details)
- Each Team selects one controller port to use for each Player.
- Each Team selects one character for each Player. A double blind pick may be called by any player.
- The first game is played on a Stage selected from the Starter Stage List either by mutual consent or through the Stage Striking Method. The order of stage striking will be 2-3-1 (Team 1 strikes two stages, followed by Team 2 striking three stages, with Team 1 then striking one of the two remaining stages).
- The first match is played.
- The team that lost the previous match may opt to re-pick controller ports (with themselves picking first).
- The Team that won the previous match may announce one "Stage Ban" if they have not already done so in this set.
- The Team that lost the previous match announces the stage for the next match from either the Starter or the Counterpick Stage List. Any Stage named as a "Stage Ban" by the either Team may not be selected. No Stage may be used by a Team that has already won on that Stage in this set.
- The Team that won the previous match chooses one character for each Player.
- The Team that lost the previous match chooses one character for each Player.
- The next match is played.
- Repeat steps 6-11 for all proceeding matches.
Determining Player Priority
If there is a dispute in controller port selection or initiating Stage Strike use the following method:
Teams agree to Rock-Paper-Scissors, otherwise it is determined with a coin-flip. The winning Team shall either elect to have first choice in port selection
or first choice in Stage Strike. Whichever Team does not receive first choice in Port Selection will be compensated with first choice in Stage Striking.
Note: In Doubles, port selection is ordered 1-2-2-1 fashion (with Team-1 having first choice in controller slot select, Team-2 having both second and third choice, and the final slot going to Team-1).
Stage List
Starters
|
Counterpicks
Battlefield|Battleship Halberd
Castle Siege|Brinstar
Final Destination|Delfino Plaza
Lylat Cruise|Pokémon Stadium 2
Pokemon Stadium 1|Rainbow Cruise
Smashville|Frigate Orpheon
Yoshi's Island (Brawl)|
Conduct Rules
- BYOC (Bring your own controller): Players are expected to bring their own controller and be prepared for every tournament set.
- Pause can be requested off and that request cannot be denied. If one pauses mid-match, the person who initiated the pause loses their current stock. If the pause causes the opponent to lose their stock (Such as interfering with recovery), the person who initiated the pause loses two stocks.
- Players who use the Wii Remote must take the batteries out of the Wii Remote when not playing. If the Wii Remote is still synced up to a Wii with the batteries in, you could unintentionally disrupt a match. If problems persist, a DQ may happen.
- You are responsible for your own controller and name tag. Any malfunctions or errors that occur are your responsibility (including battery issues with a Wii Remote), so bring an extra controller if possible and always check to make sure you're using the correct settings BEFORE a match is played. Both parties need to agree if a match is to be paused or restarted because of these problems.
- Intentional forfeiting, match fixing, splitting, and any other forms of bracket manipulation are not allowed and punishable by the TO.
- No substitutions are allowed for singles or doubles.
- Coaching is allowed only between games, not during. Failure to adhere to this will lead to punishment at the TO's discretion, which could include the removal from the venue.
- DQ Rule: Arriving too late for a match will result in a DQ. Player(s) will have 5 minutes to show up before a loss of the first match. 5 more minutes results in a loss of the set. For doubles, both players on a team need to be present in order to play.
- The tournament organizer has the right to save/record any tournament match if possible and has the right to upload said match.
- Regarding textures and other game hacks:
- Players may request that any texture, stage, or other hacks be disabled during a tournament set. If this is unable to be done, they may switch to a different setup if available.
- The BBR-RC recommends players do not use intrusive texture and stage hacks.
- Players are not allowed to use any game altering hacks, such as no-tripping or model hacks. If someone is caught setting up a system they brought with such hacks enabled can face punishment at the TO's discretion.
- Disrupting your opponent physically or intending to disrupt their play (through something such as screaming in a player's ear) will result in a warning. Repeated action will result in disqualification from the tournament and possibly ejection from the venue. Observers who physically disrupt players are to be dealt with as the Tournament Organiser sees fit. Disqualification is recommended if possible, and ejection from the venue is also a punishment.
•These rules are subject to change leading up to the event date. The Tournament Organizer reserves the right to remove you from the venue at his discretion for any reason.
•The Tournament Organizer and his assistents, and any persons helping run the event may not be held liable for any lost, stolen, or damaged goods during this event. Nor will the Tournament Organizer, the venue, its owners, affiliates, employees, members, sponsors, or volunteers be held liable or responsible for any injury or harm that may befall a person during the course of this event. By entering the venue during the posted date you are displaying your agreement with this policy.
Users can discuss this ruleset in the thread provided here:
http://www.smashboards.com/showthread.php?t=301033
Unity Ruleset Infraction System
Players found in contempt of rules within the Unity Ruleset are subject to the Infraction System. This is a system where players can receive either a
Yellow Card or a
Red Card in a certain category by the members of the BBR-RC based on evidence and discussion.
Cards
Yellow Cards are given for lesser offenses, or as warnings for larger ones. Players with a
Yellow Card are under extra watch by tournament hosts for later offenses. If a player receives a
Yellow Card in a category they already have an active one in, they will be given a
Red Card for that category.
Red Cards are given for larger offenses, or by accumulating two active
Yellow Cards in a single category. If a player has an active
Red Card, they are unable to participate in any events hosted at a tournament using the Unity Ruleset.
Cards given to players will have a set expiration date determined on a case-by-case basis by the BBR-RC.
Yellow Cards will typically carry longer active periods as a warning lasting approximately between one and twelve months.
Red Cards typically carry lesser active periods lasting approximately between two and eight weeks, acting as a tournament ban. Expiration dates may be set differently depending on the severity of the infraction and repeated occurrence of them.
Cards are assigned a category when distributed based on the rule that was broken.
Red Cards gained by accumulating two or more
Yellow Cards only happens if the
Yellow Cards are obtained in the same category. Categories also help represent the severity of a sentence, as some categories are more important than others. Categories will be decided on when the infraction is given by the BBR-RC. Some examples of categories (but not all of them) are listed below.
Categories
Bracket Manipulation: This category is for any offense that pertains to players modifying the outcome of a bracket based on factors such as (but not limited to)
Prize Splitting,
Intentional Forfeiting,
Intentional Under-performance, and
Outside Deals. This category may bring additional punishment immediately at the tournament by the Tournament Organizer such as being disqualified from the event or
having your winnings forfeited to other placing players at the event.
Tournament Conduct: This category is for any offense that pertains to players acting out of line at tournaments. This includes factors such as (but not limited to)
Fighting,
Disruption,
Theft, and
Destruction of Property. This category may bring additional punishment immediately at the tournament by the Tournament Organizer such as
being ejected from the venue.
Distribution and Operation of Cards
- Everyone may view the status of all distributed cards including their category, expiration date, and assigned player in the following post: http://www.smashboards.com/showpost.php?p=12763608&postcount=4
- Cards will be assigned by the BBR-RC as a whole after discussion following the event in question. Cards may be assigned at any time.
- Cards do not have to be tied to a specific action at a specific event.
- Anyone is able to contact any member of the BBR-RC to suggest the distribution of a card, as well as provide evidence that may aid in the decision of the distribution.
- The BBR-RC may assign cards to players based on events not using the Unity Ruleset.
- All events using the Unity Ruleset must abide by the player blacklist formed by the Infraction System.
- Any host not using the Unity Ruleset in its entirety is still welcome to use the player blacklist if they choose.
- Any player who receives a card is more than welcome to contact any member of the BBR-RC with a counter argument for why they should have not received a certain card.
Active Infractions
ADHD
Yellow Card (Bracket Manipulation) at KTAR5 - Expiring November 21st, 2011
Anti
Yellow Card (Bracket Manipulation) at KTAR5 - Expiring November 21st, 2011
Mew2King
Yellow Card (Bracket Manipulation) at KTAR5 - Expiring November 21st, 2011
[collapse=Expired Infractions]
There are currently none.
[/collapse]
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This thread is for discussion of the BBR-RC Unity Ruleset.
Unity Ruleset Change Log
v1.0 - Ruleset released.
v1.1 - Pictochat is now banned.
Pause rule edited to include a harsher punishment for a player who pauses during a bad situation (such as recoveries).
Infinite/Stalling rules slightly edited for clarity.
A player disruption conduct rule added.
Two clauses added to protect TOs and venue owners.
v1.2 - New player infraction system implemented. Yellow & Red Cards introduced.
v1.3 - 5 stage starter list changed to 7 stage starter list, with PS1 and Castle Siege being the two new stages.
Whether or not we allow infinites in subsequent tournaments will depend on the consensus the AZ Brawl scene, although from what it appears the majority already seems to be in favor of always having them legal. 
