There's going to be a local 4v4 tourney near me and I'm planning to attend. The rules there are 3 stocks, team attack on, but there's a catch. Each team chooses who their damsel is and the rest are knights that defend the damsel or try to knock out the other damsel 
. The game ends when the damsel of respective teams is knocked out. Should be interesting, can't wait to attend it.
I'm familiar with the idea, but where I am people refer to the damsel as the "MVP". I've had some ideas for a 4v4 where players have different numbers of stocks, and start in a number of designated locations.
The damsels or
MVPs would have 3 stocks, being the core player. When an MVP is defeated permanently, the game is over. The MVP is not allowed to TAKE stocks, but is allowed to GIVE stocks.
Then there would be 2 "
assistants" players, who have 2 stock each. These two have the job of supplying the MVP with a steady support for however long they can, by backing up the MVP and taking stocks from the other team. Assistants cannot TAKE or GIVE stocks.
The last player would be the "
beserker", who only has 1 stock. The job of the beserker is to do as much damage with his one stock as possible, or stay alive as long as he can through the entire match. The beserker is the only player allowed to TAKE stocks.
Ideally, this is how I would imagine a match going:
the match starts off with 4v4. the assistants and beserkers each remove the proper number of stocks from themselves. Then, the players take their positions on the various legal positions on the stage. The match starts at a designated time, let's say 7:40.
Opening 4v4
This is the point in the game where beserker can have the greatest impact on the game, possibly setting the game for or against their favor.
Opening Strategy 1
The teams rush toward eachother as in a standard 4v4 set up. Your team's beserker has plans to immediately rush the other MVP, and try to deal large swaths of damage to him and possibly take an early cheap stock. Your MVP and assistants go vs the other team in a mixed 1v1 and 3v3 setting. The beserker will jump in at any time if he can get an easy hit and possibly put the other MVP is significant danger.
Counter-strategy 1
The other team realizes this, and can do any of the following:
-Pick a very slippery, evasive character and play keep-away, foiling your beserker's plan.
-Have a very abusive beserker/assistant combination. Basically, their beserker and assistants will leave their MVP and try to KO
your MVP, because they believe they can do it faster due to their superior 3v1 abilities.
Essentially, the idea to this counter strategy is that their MVP will waste his aggressor's time, put them out of position, and slowly whittle them down.
Opening Strategy 2 (Similar to counter-strategy 1)
Your MVP has strong defensive and long range utility. The assistants and beserkers will try to 1v1 each of the other team members.
Situations:
1. If the other team tries to bum rush your MVP, your MVP will use an ability to either knock them back or set them in retreating position. Your team will then go in to deal some punishment. The point of this strategy would be to ensure that the net damage the opponent team receives is greater than the net damage your team receives. This will put your MVP in danger, but this strategy relies on giving the other team higher net damage, so that your team will have more stocks in the end game.
2. If the other team simply 1v1s each of your players, then that works as well.
For this strategy, you must make sure that your team composition can at least somewhat handle both situations.
Counter-strategy 2
the opponent team has realized your team is playing strategy 2.
-They simply choose a very strong 4x 1v1 team, and try to outplay you 1v1. Their goal is to keep you 1v1ing at all time, and prevent any 2v1 situations, and they do this by having 4 fast-pressure characters that can quickly punish their 1v1 opponent if they start straying.
MVP/beserker position swap strategy
Basically the same as strategy 1, but your MVP is the aggressive one, trying to clean out the beserker's 1 stock and turn the game into a 4v3.
Counter swap strategy
-The other team realizes this and will elevate their Beserker to "MVP status" temporarily to deal with the threat.
-Or they could let your team go after their beserker, allowing him to deal whatever damage he can while the rest of their team piles on damage on you from the side without prejudice. This is especially dangerous because the beserker will be sacrificing himself to deal tons of damage to your team.
4v4 to 3v3 transition
At some point the beserkers will be KOed (hopefully) an the game will turn into a 3v3, consisting of the MVPs and their assistants. This would be the phase of the game where assistants will have their greatest impact.
3v3 is a lot closer to 2v2 than 4v4 I believe. It's hard to come up with strategies because making power plays at this time is riskier and the MVP will have less stocks to mess around with. Still strategies still can be devised.
2v2 and 1v1 endgame
By now one of the assistants is permanently gone and only the MVP and one assistant is left. This will play out like a regular 2v2, eventually boiling down to a 2v1 or a victory for one of the teams. It may even turn into a 1v1, as the MVPs naturally have more stocks and the remaining assistants would have high % and may easily be finished off.
There you have it, a prototype for an ideal 4v4! It's a bit opener heavy, but opening strategies do tend to dictate non- 1v1 strategy games.
-------
Basically, there is a lot of strategy/rules that can be developed for 4v4.
That's just something I came up with.
