So I've been getting into competitive play since a few months into Brawl and attend local tourneys for Melee/Brawl/PM, but as far as I know tourney wise, I only know basic things such as 4 stock/8 min rule, # of ledgegrabs, no coaching iirc.
But I know nothing about starting stages, counter picks, or anything about stages. I just pick whatever I like visually. I know some things like picking certain stages to deter Diddy GT and stuff. So basically, just wondering if anyone could give a brief overview of tourney rules to me, more specifically stages.
P.S Hope I put this in the right location.
First I'll go over set format. Sets are 2/3 or 3/5. For now we'll use 2/3, and I'll just pretend like we have 5 Starter Stages (like in Melee). Sorry if you know this stuff already.
1. Both players choose their characters (can blind pick).
2. Players strike stages (Rock Paper Scissors to see who goes first):
a. Player 1 strikes 1 stage
b. Player 2 strikes 2 stages
c. Player 1 strikes 1 stage, so only one is left
3. Players play on selected stage
4. Winner of the last match bans a stage
5. Loser of the last match picks a stage
6. Winner of the last match picks their character
7. Loser of the last match picks their character
8. The next match is played. Do steps 4-7 until the set is over.
You can't pick a stage you already won on in that set.
All games have Starter Stages and Counterpick Stages. The first game in a set can only be played on a Starter Stage, not a Counterpick Stage, while all games after in that set can be either Starter or Counterpick.
You should ask other players of the characters you play what stages they like, try to figure out what stages other characters like so you know what to ban and what to pick when fighting them, and practice match-ups on all stages to get a feel for what YOU like.
I don't remember much of the Brawl stagelist, as I haven't been paying attention to that game for quite awhile now. Project M stagelists are still wildly different depending on what tournament you're at or what region you're in. So let's talk about Melee.
In Melee the stages are:
STARTER
Battlefield
Final Destination
Yoshi Story
Dreamland 64
Fountain of Dreams
COUNTERPICK
Pokemon Stadium
Let's do an example 2/3 set.
1. I choose Falco, my opponent chooses Marth.
2. We stage strike. I win Rock Paper Scissors.
a. I ban Yoshi Story, because Marth covers so much space against Falco with his sword, and I'm not comfortable against Marth on that stage.
b. Marth bans Dreamland 64 (which some say is Marth's worst stage), and he bans Fountain of Dreams (because he hates that stage).
c. I ban Final Destination. Marth has a chaingrab on Falco on this stage, and so it's usually a good idea for Falco to ban FD. However, I like to wait and see if Marth bans it, because if he doesn't know the chaingrab it's better for Falco. He didn't ban it, so I'm guessing he knows the chaingrab. . .but if he did ban it, that would mean I wouldn't have to, giving me an extra ban.
3. We play on Battlefield. I win.
4. I decide to ban Final Destination since he didn't during Stage Striking, so he probably knows how to chaingrab.
5. He picks Yoshi Story, as I expected.
6. I stay with Falco.
7. He stays with Marth.
8. We play on Yoshi Story, and he wins.
4b. He bans Dreamland 64, as he should (again, it's Marth's worst stage arguably).
5b. I'm not allowed to pick Battlefield, since I already won on it. I could go to Fountain of Dreams, but PERSONALLY, I don't prefer it. So I choose to go to Pokemon Stadium, one of my favorite stages (and great for Falco).
6b. He picks Fox, since Pokemon Stadium is really good for Fox. I wasn't expecting him to change characters.
7b. I decide to stay with Falco, since I'm not comfortable with anyone else.
8b. Even though Pokemon Stadium is really good for Fox, it's not his main, so it's not as good as his Marth, and I win since I stuck with my main. He probably should have stuck with Marth (the character he's best with) instead of trying to change to fit the stage.
I win 2/3, so I win the set and advance in the tournament.
He gets knocked into Loser's Bracket.
