Ok, ok. I honestly need help with this. I've only been to 3 tourneys but every time there's this awkward silence between me and my opponent like they're expecting me to do something, and they're waiting for my bans and stuff. I don't know anything about bans, and like who picks their characters first and then there's counter picking stages, so can anyone explain to me basically how a set works? Thanks c:
Competitive Discussion boards is not really the best place for set procedures and etiquette. I'm not sure if there's a kind of Q&A place for it and you missed it, or there's really not a place for that kind of question. But I would suggest you study a bit and figure out what you will ban against certain characters (or potential character) you'll be facing off against so you don't leave your opponent waiting for you. Set procedure can vary, so If you are really struggling with this then I would suggest you simply ask a host of the tournament to help you out there in person.
But generally this is a good idea of how a competition should proceed:
1)
Agree to characters
a) Determine which player chooses their Character first. Placing your token on a character is seen as agreeing to choose first (choice of confidence). If all teams refuse to place their tokens first there is a disagreement in character choice (see procedure "b" below).
b) If neither player is confident enough to select their character first then ask a host/referee/TO to help with a double-blind choice. This will allow you to choose your character without the opponent knowing what it will be and vice versa.
2)
First Round Stage Selection
a) Agreement - Verbally ask if your opponent would like to go to a commonly used Stage (like Smashville or Battlefield), if they do not want to go to a commonly used Stage then ask which Stage they would like to use; if you are ok with their offer then let them know you agree to use that one.
b) No Agreement - If you cannot agree to a Stage, then do a Stage Strike. Using the available Stages, decide who strikes first. Take turns striking out a usable Stage until only one is left and that is the one you will use.
3) Counterpicks
After the first game, a counterpick system is usually employed. This means the loser of the previous game gets to choose the Stage from available Stages, but only after the winner of the previous game bans a Stage (sometimes they get two bans).
a) Winner of previous round bans a stage from the available stages (sometimes 2 or rarely more bans).
b) Loser of previous round announces the Stage that will be used for the immediate next game.
c) Winner then chooses their character to be used in conjunction with the counterpicked Stage.
d) Loser of previous round gets to choose their character last, and is seen as a "counterpick" character choice.
Know when you will be initiating the Stage choice or the Ban choice. If your opponent wins the first round then ask what their Stage ban(s) is/are. If you win the first round, be prepared to announce your ban for the next round in a timely manner. Being able to agree to Stages makes things much easier, on the first round I usually ask if my opponent prefers Smashville or Battlefield and offer we could go to an Omega form of a Stage if they'd like.
