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Can someone help me (newbie to tournaments)?
- Thread starter AndySSBM
- Start date
DeLux
Player that used to be Lux
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2010
- Messages
- 9,312
Hey there,
I'm CT DeLux aka Free Free FreeLux now featuring 3x the Free. I'm a retired tournament organizer/player/commentator in the Kansas City, KS area. I'd like to welcome you to the community and hopefully this post will help guide you through your first tournament match!
1. Establish a connection with your local tournament organizer. This means arriving early to the tournament and actually talking to them. Any TO that is any good will be more than happy to explain the rules to you in person provided you aren't asking them when they are bombarded with a requests from a billion other players in the event, thus why I suggest arriving early. If there is any dispute on rules or you are unsure, ask the TO as they are the final say on rulesset decisions for the event.
2. Enter the event - Most tournaments will run singles play and 2v2 plays also known as "doubles". The community standard is generally either $5, $10, or $15 entry per event. At the same time, the event may require a "venue" fee since it's expensive at times to rent out a venue to host events. Venue fees typically range from $3-$10 for single day events and $15-$50 for two day events depending on the quality of venue. You should ask if there are any venue fee discounts for being a new player or bringing a setup/equipment, since these are pretty common to help tournaments run more efficiently and help grow the community.
As a player, you have a reasonable expectation that your entry fee is placed into the prize pot of the tournament if payout is based on attendance, while the TO may use the venue fee at their discretion. The TO shouldn't be using entry fees at their discretion unless specifically stated upfront. If it's your first tournament, that information may not matter to you since based off the learning curve, most people do not place in the money at their first events.
3. Find your opponent - Generally in the tournament, your TO will start shouting out matches with your name against your opponent. That being said, it helps to be social and introduce yourself to as many players as possible, paying attention to names! That way, when your match is called, you'll be able to recognize who your opponent is, or someone will recognize you and help point you in the right direction. If you are not able to find your opponent within five minutes, consult with the TO. The five minutes is crucial because TO's would like to keep the event running as well as many rulessets have specific rules that call for game loss and disqualification if players don't show up.
4. Find a setup - Once you find your opponent, make your way to the TV you were assigned to or an open TV. If no TVs are open, it's acceptable to kick people off TVs if they aren't playing a tournament set. Proper decorum is typically to wait until someone has lost a stock and then ask, "Is this match tournament?" If they say it isn't, you are then within your rights to ask them to leave the setup so that you and your opponent can play your tournament match. If it's a money match, most of the time it's in good taste to let them finish the game they are playing before kicking them off. However, as a rule, the tournament sets always get rights to the setups. If players will not leave a setup, consult your TO and they will take care of the issue for you.
5. Game 1 - Once you find a setup, it's time to start your tournament set! I'm going to preface all of this by saying that most tournaments run various different rulessets with subtle differences, so make sure you are familiar with the rulesset prior to playing. I'll do my best to go by what's close to common practice, but keep in mind it may be different from tournament to tournament.
a. Choose your character - Both players choose their character. Technically speaking, this is supposed to be double blind, meaning you can't wait for your opponent to pick their character to pick yours for an advantage and vice versa. If there is a problem with that, you may call over a 3rd party (I recommend the TO) to help administrate a proper blind pick. It is usually in poor taste to pick your characters and then call for a blind pick after the fact. If blind picking is important to you, make sure you call for it prior to character selection.
b. Determine port selection - Certain matchups often are augmented by which port a controller is plugged into. That being the case, players can use a random method (community standard is RPS or Game and Watch Judgment Magnitude) to determine who gets to select port first. In doubles, the winning team of the random selection method usually picks first, followed by both losing players, followed by the winning team's second player.
c. Agree to Stage 1 - There are generally two ways players go about selecting the first stage. The easiest is asking if an opponent agrees to a stage. If they agree, then you may commence playing. However, if a player doesn't agree to a stage, most rulessets will have a stage striking system procedure. In stage striking, players take turns declaring stages they do NOT want to play on out of the legal stages (sometimes called a starter list if there is that distinction). The easiest way to do this is to go to the "Random Stage Select" menu and turn off all the stages but the legal stages for game 1. Then you take turns turning off stages that you don't want to play on until only one is left. The remaining stage will be used during the first game.
d. Play Game 1 - Generally speaking, most games will be determined by who loses all of their stocks first. In that case, most rulessets do not play out sudden death in the event of a simultaneous death ending or a game ending up running out of time.
In the event of a time out, take not of who has more stocks and then less percentage. Have a player SD to get to the end of game screen. Check to see if a player violated the ledge grab limit by checking the edge grabs stats. If they exceed the ledge grab limit, they automatically lose. If both players do not exceed the ledge grab limit, if a player had more stocks at the end of time, they will be declared the winner. If the stocks are tied but there is a percentage differential, then the player with the lower percentage will be declared the winner. In the event the stocks and percent are tied (or if both players died at the same time to force sudden death), most rulessets will have call for a sudden death 1-stock 3 minute game to be played out to determine the winner.
6. Counter Picking
a. Banning phase - The winner of game 1 usually bans a stage, which neither player can pick during counter picking. In some rulessets the loser may be called to ban a stage during this phase as well, but most rulessets will have the player ban a stage once they win a game and it's their opponent's turn to pick a stage. Keep in mind most rulessets allow stages that weren't available in game 1 to be used during counter-picking, so check the rulesset!
b. Stage Selection - The loser of the previous game picks a stage by declaring what stage they'd like to play on. They are not allowed to pick a stage that has been banned. Additionally, some rulessets run a variation of DSR, where players can't pick stages that have already been played on or they have already won on, so make sure you check your rulesset!
c. Character Selection - Once a player picks a stage, the winner of the previous game selects their character. After the first player selects their character, the loser of the previous game may select their character, making it a counter pick. (Notice how this differs from a double blind from the first game, which is why its called a "counter pick")
d. Either player at this point may call for the ports to be swapped from the previous game
e. Play the Games - Most tournament sets are best of three. Some may go to as far as best of seven. Often times for smash specifically, finals sets are played out to best of five.
7. Display Proper Sportsmanship - Generally it's customary to congratulate your opponent if they win. This is done by a fist bump. Shaking hands is discouraged often because people sweat from their palms during matches. Hugging is usually overly friendly. Punching someone is too aggressive. Throwing your controller at people or breaking TVs is also frowned upon. Crying is only acceptable if you want people to make fun of you.
8. Report your match - Common tournament etiquette calls for the winner of the match having the obligation to report the match to the TO. However, as common practice, both players should report the match so they can know when they are to play next.
9. Remember type of tournament - If you lose your set, it's important to know what kind of tournament you've entered. Most tournaments run a double elimination bracket, where you play sets until you lose twice. If you've entered a round robin pools tournament, you'll play until you've played everyone in your pool.
10. Have fun - Enjoy the experience. Play lots of people. Watch other matches and yell at the screen (just don't disrupt the players).
Make friends. Make plans. Make mistakes. Make plays. Make love. Make memories. Make a name for yourself!
Make the tournament experience worth your time and hard earned money
I'm CT DeLux aka Free Free FreeLux now featuring 3x the Free. I'm a retired tournament organizer/player/commentator in the Kansas City, KS area. I'd like to welcome you to the community and hopefully this post will help guide you through your first tournament match!
1. Establish a connection with your local tournament organizer. This means arriving early to the tournament and actually talking to them. Any TO that is any good will be more than happy to explain the rules to you in person provided you aren't asking them when they are bombarded with a requests from a billion other players in the event, thus why I suggest arriving early. If there is any dispute on rules or you are unsure, ask the TO as they are the final say on rulesset decisions for the event.
2. Enter the event - Most tournaments will run singles play and 2v2 plays also known as "doubles". The community standard is generally either $5, $10, or $15 entry per event. At the same time, the event may require a "venue" fee since it's expensive at times to rent out a venue to host events. Venue fees typically range from $3-$10 for single day events and $15-$50 for two day events depending on the quality of venue. You should ask if there are any venue fee discounts for being a new player or bringing a setup/equipment, since these are pretty common to help tournaments run more efficiently and help grow the community.
As a player, you have a reasonable expectation that your entry fee is placed into the prize pot of the tournament if payout is based on attendance, while the TO may use the venue fee at their discretion. The TO shouldn't be using entry fees at their discretion unless specifically stated upfront. If it's your first tournament, that information may not matter to you since based off the learning curve, most people do not place in the money at their first events.
3. Find your opponent - Generally in the tournament, your TO will start shouting out matches with your name against your opponent. That being said, it helps to be social and introduce yourself to as many players as possible, paying attention to names! That way, when your match is called, you'll be able to recognize who your opponent is, or someone will recognize you and help point you in the right direction. If you are not able to find your opponent within five minutes, consult with the TO. The five minutes is crucial because TO's would like to keep the event running as well as many rulessets have specific rules that call for game loss and disqualification if players don't show up.
4. Find a setup - Once you find your opponent, make your way to the TV you were assigned to or an open TV. If no TVs are open, it's acceptable to kick people off TVs if they aren't playing a tournament set. Proper decorum is typically to wait until someone has lost a stock and then ask, "Is this match tournament?" If they say it isn't, you are then within your rights to ask them to leave the setup so that you and your opponent can play your tournament match. If it's a money match, most of the time it's in good taste to let them finish the game they are playing before kicking them off. However, as a rule, the tournament sets always get rights to the setups. If players will not leave a setup, consult your TO and they will take care of the issue for you.
5. Game 1 - Once you find a setup, it's time to start your tournament set! I'm going to preface all of this by saying that most tournaments run various different rulessets with subtle differences, so make sure you are familiar with the rulesset prior to playing. I'll do my best to go by what's close to common practice, but keep in mind it may be different from tournament to tournament.
a. Choose your character - Both players choose their character. Technically speaking, this is supposed to be double blind, meaning you can't wait for your opponent to pick their character to pick yours for an advantage and vice versa. If there is a problem with that, you may call over a 3rd party (I recommend the TO) to help administrate a proper blind pick. It is usually in poor taste to pick your characters and then call for a blind pick after the fact. If blind picking is important to you, make sure you call for it prior to character selection.
b. Determine port selection - Certain matchups often are augmented by which port a controller is plugged into. That being the case, players can use a random method (community standard is RPS or Game and Watch Judgment Magnitude) to determine who gets to select port first. In doubles, the winning team of the random selection method usually picks first, followed by both losing players, followed by the winning team's second player.
c. Agree to Stage 1 - There are generally two ways players go about selecting the first stage. The easiest is asking if an opponent agrees to a stage. If they agree, then you may commence playing. However, if a player doesn't agree to a stage, most rulessets will have a stage striking system procedure. In stage striking, players take turns declaring stages they do NOT want to play on out of the legal stages (sometimes called a starter list if there is that distinction). The easiest way to do this is to go to the "Random Stage Select" menu and turn off all the stages but the legal stages for game 1. Then you take turns turning off stages that you don't want to play on until only one is left. The remaining stage will be used during the first game.
d. Play Game 1 - Generally speaking, most games will be determined by who loses all of their stocks first. In that case, most rulessets do not play out sudden death in the event of a simultaneous death ending or a game ending up running out of time.
In the event of a time out, take not of who has more stocks and then less percentage. Have a player SD to get to the end of game screen. Check to see if a player violated the ledge grab limit by checking the edge grabs stats. If they exceed the ledge grab limit, they automatically lose. If both players do not exceed the ledge grab limit, if a player had more stocks at the end of time, they will be declared the winner. If the stocks are tied but there is a percentage differential, then the player with the lower percentage will be declared the winner. In the event the stocks and percent are tied (or if both players died at the same time to force sudden death), most rulessets will have call for a sudden death 1-stock 3 minute game to be played out to determine the winner.
6. Counter Picking
a. Banning phase - The winner of game 1 usually bans a stage, which neither player can pick during counter picking. In some rulessets the loser may be called to ban a stage during this phase as well, but most rulessets will have the player ban a stage once they win a game and it's their opponent's turn to pick a stage. Keep in mind most rulessets allow stages that weren't available in game 1 to be used during counter-picking, so check the rulesset!
b. Stage Selection - The loser of the previous game picks a stage by declaring what stage they'd like to play on. They are not allowed to pick a stage that has been banned. Additionally, some rulessets run a variation of DSR, where players can't pick stages that have already been played on or they have already won on, so make sure you check your rulesset!
c. Character Selection - Once a player picks a stage, the winner of the previous game selects their character. After the first player selects their character, the loser of the previous game may select their character, making it a counter pick. (Notice how this differs from a double blind from the first game, which is why its called a "counter pick")
d. Either player at this point may call for the ports to be swapped from the previous game
e. Play the Games - Most tournament sets are best of three. Some may go to as far as best of seven. Often times for smash specifically, finals sets are played out to best of five.
7. Display Proper Sportsmanship - Generally it's customary to congratulate your opponent if they win. This is done by a fist bump. Shaking hands is discouraged often because people sweat from their palms during matches. Hugging is usually overly friendly. Punching someone is too aggressive. Throwing your controller at people or breaking TVs is also frowned upon. Crying is only acceptable if you want people to make fun of you.
8. Report your match - Common tournament etiquette calls for the winner of the match having the obligation to report the match to the TO. However, as common practice, both players should report the match so they can know when they are to play next.
9. Remember type of tournament - If you lose your set, it's important to know what kind of tournament you've entered. Most tournaments run a double elimination bracket, where you play sets until you lose twice. If you've entered a round robin pools tournament, you'll play until you've played everyone in your pool.
10. Have fun - Enjoy the experience. Play lots of people. Watch other matches and yell at the screen (just don't disrupt the players).
Make friends. Make plans. Make mistakes. Make plays. Make love. Make memories. Make a name for yourself!
Make the tournament experience worth your time and hard earned money
Avantgrave
Smash Cadet
Reading this actually helped answer a lot of the questions I had about getting into the whole tournament scene too. Now just to find out where the local ones take place, and I'll be on my way.
TheCoin
Smash Rookie
I'm about to enter my first tournament as well and I'm kinda nervous about meeting so much unknown people and fitting in. I've heard and I belive that the community is really friendly but I'm worried that I break some social rule or that nobody wants to play friendlies with me or something like that. I'm mostly worried about sitting alone in a corner somewhere and feeling misplaced or something. Does any of you have any tips for how to break the ice and get into the community?
Like, do I just go to some random people and ask if I can join them play or what do I do?
I would really appriciate answers.
Like, do I just go to some random people and ask if I can join them play or what do I do?
I would really appriciate answers.
TheCoin
Smash Rookie
Oh really? Awesome to be into smash at relative young age like that. I'm actually a 18 year old, video game interested normal guy so I should fit in pretty well. But I'm still nervous haha. Especially since I know everyone in there are going to wreck me, so I've got lots of respect for everyone. Especially people like you whom stands out in the crowd. 
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TheCoin
Smash Rookie
Yeah. I know. That's another thing I'm hyped about with my first tournament. Since Armada will be there and maybe M2K whom are kind of mini celebrities. So I don't know how to act around them haha. But it will be cool I guess.
Last edited:
DeLux
Player that used to be Lux
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2010
- Messages
- 9,312
As for as breaking social rules, don't worry about that too much.
Just remember rule #1 - don't be a douchebag and you'll be fine.
If people are playing, be respectful as I mentioned and ask about the status of the match (tournament, money match, or friendly) once someone loses a stock.
Otherwise the rest is just common sense.
As far as friendlies go, I recommend the following to new players -
Play as many people as possible in friendlies especially those that you don't normally play against.
Try to play the equivalent of a five game set with them. So if they stomp you three games in a row, thank them for playing and ask them what you can improve on. If you beat someone three times in a row, thank them for playing and maybe share some advice if they ask for it. Don't get caught up and playing the same person for hours.
Don't money match anyone because it's probably a trap. Money at some tournaments and then you should start money matching people.
Honestly, the point of the tournament especially for new people is that it's a social event. So don't be afraid to be social.
Just remember rule #1 - don't be a douchebag and you'll be fine.
If people are playing, be respectful as I mentioned and ask about the status of the match (tournament, money match, or friendly) once someone loses a stock.
Otherwise the rest is just common sense.
As far as friendlies go, I recommend the following to new players -
Play as many people as possible in friendlies especially those that you don't normally play against.
Try to play the equivalent of a five game set with them. So if they stomp you three games in a row, thank them for playing and ask them what you can improve on. If you beat someone three times in a row, thank them for playing and maybe share some advice if they ask for it. Don't get caught up and playing the same person for hours.
Don't money match anyone because it's probably a trap. Money at some tournaments and then you should start money matching people.
Honestly, the point of the tournament especially for new people is that it's a social event. So don't be afraid to be social.
TheCoin
Smash Rookie
Thanks for the answear. The "play a five game set" tip is probably gonna get usefull since I suspect I might just be happy playing anyone so when I found someone I wouldn't want to stop playing against him/her haha. Definitly gonna remember that.
Definitly gonna remember that.
SmasherP83
Smash Ace
Thanks for the tips DeLux I havn't seen you play honestly but I've seen a lot of M2K, Toon King, and Kaze the Warrior. I'm just going over this just incase I enter a smash tournament (which I realy want to do one day). I've been playing competitively on Brawl for awhile now so I know a few things. But sadly the Con for me is that I'm Shy/Nervous when it comes to talking to people (I'm 13 btw so yea...) so I'll have to try to improve on that. Entry fee......ehhhh I always seem to have around 40$ so I think I would be fine. I liked all the tips and hope to use them when I go to a Smash Tournament one day and I think I'll just take it friendly since I just anna get to know people and all that fun stuff.
Naroghin
Smash Ace
Another trick that works: as with all social events if you're truly that nervous just bring a wingman/good friend. Of course you don't want to just hang on that one person all day, but it's good to have a base or anchor if you choke or are tired of meeting new people. Textbook trick for introverts who are interested in trying to be social. The only thing is that your friend needs to be a smasher, too, or they will just feel lost if you go to play with some other people or break off to try and meet new people. Just consider it.
Substitution
Deacon Blues
All righty then, I'll remember this! Been wanting to go to tournaments for a while, just never got around to it.
Andrew McNamara
Banned via Warnings
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2014
- Messages
- 136
how do i register for melee tournaments? and can i search a specific state
Andrew McNamara
Banned via Warnings
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2014
- Messages
- 136
how do i register for melee tournaments and is there any way to search for them in New Jersey