Smash Wii U Community Leaders Release Recommended Ruleset

In the aftermath of Genesis 4, many Super Smash Bros. for Wii U players have taken to social media to discuss the ever present issue of stage legality and a competitive ruleset that can accommodate the needs of all players while remaining competitively proper. Amidst months of disagreement and adjustment, a collective of profound tournament organizers from various Smash Wii U regions have come to a consensus on what they are calling the “2017 Recommended Ruleset”.

The ruleset was announced through a Twitlonger published by Scott “VGBC | Tantalus” Robertson. The group behind it, comprised of BAM, Bear, Blind, Champ, D1, Martakia, Tantalus, TLTC, TMPR, Vayseth, and Zan, agreed upon several factors that have been previously dubious to tournament settings, be they unestablished in official ruling or met with varying restrictions from region to region. These rulings cover such aspects as Coaching, Gentleman’s Rule, Settings Check, Controller Settings, and a consensus on a concrete stage list.

Tantalus' Twitlonger covers the details behind these rules as well as a brief explanation to the conclusions the community leaders had come to. On top of expounding on some of these factors officially for the first time, Tantalus noted that “This is a living, breathing document, not a set in stone document. We are open to change and that is how we got to this point, so if this doesn't improve the playing field, we aren't opposed to reverting changes”.

As well as Tantalus' quote, a quote attributed to the entire team reads "We think this ruleset will solve most of the challenges and qualms of the current metagame while springing the game into a new healthy meta". It is clear that the leaders of the community are open to future suggestion and adaptation of this recommended list as the meta evolves and needs of the players evolve alongside of it.

As of right now, tournaments confirmed to be using the 2017 Recommended Ruleset include all future 2GGaming, Midwest region, and Smash at Xanadu events. It will likely be in use at more regionals and majors in the the coming months.

Author's Note With a semi-finalized ruleset being formed so early into 2017, it will be exciting to see how these rules suit the ever evolving meta of Smash Wii U and it will quell the dissent from those dissatisfied with the now previous variety of rules.

Feel free to sound off in the comments section below how you feel about the 2017 Recommended Ruleset and make sure to check back here at Smashboards for more content as the 2017 competitive year picks up into full swing!

 

Thats not all that makes a stage neutral. I dont think you guys get what i mean by a neutral stage, a neutral stage is simply one that has little affect on the outcome of the match. A specific MU may be 50:50 on a neutral stage, and 60:40 on lylat/DH. In that situation the stage gives a huge advantage to one player, and more importantly, it forces their opponent to waste a ban on that stage.

TIL using your stage ban for it's intended purpose is wasting it.

 

Thats not all that makes a stage neutral. I dont think you guys get what i mean by a neutral stage, a neutral stage is simply one that has little affect on the outcome of the match. A specific MU may be 50:50 on a neutral stage, and 60:40 on lylat/DH. In that situation the stage gives a huge advantage to one player, and more importantly, it forces their opponent to waste a ban on that stage.

A little effect is still a little effect. It's tautological, I know. Explain to me then how a stage like Battlefield or Dream Land 64 have little effect on those who are lighter? In fact, for a character like Bayonetta, Zero Suit Samus, Mario, Meta Knight all benefit on stages with platforms because that allows them to follow up combos in order to reach a star KO, regardless of how light the character is.

When i say characters proving themselves, i mean players proving their character. Didnt think I'd need to clarify that.

You shouldn't think about what you needed to do or not do. You should think about how you wish to convey what you're saying to your audience. There is an obvious difference between the characters in the game and the players who play the game.

And yes i agree some stages can be proven viable by players, but neither of these stages have done so.

Oh, I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

Also youre saying that with my logic Bayo and Cloud should be banned, which is not what im saying at all. There will always be a character who outperforms the rest.

I'm not saying it's your logic. Others who agree with you may not have thought about characters who out-perform others significantly, but not to the point it was like with Meta Knight in Brawl. I know you're not saying characters who out-perform others should be banned.

I do recognize the apparent contradiction in my logic: if a character can give an advantage to one player, whats so bad about a stage giving an advantage to a player?
But the difference is that character choice is completely up to the player, while a stagelist is in the rules and the player has no choice in the matter.

Then this goes against what you're defending, doesn't it? If someone can pick up any character that makes their success more probable, then they wouldn't have to worry about some stupid tree in the far left because it would become a non-issue. To illustrate it, say I used Little Mac. That damn tree is too high. I could just opt for another character who won't have this issue and even I could use the same strategy to my advantage. Problem solved. Once again, the game doesn't care about peoples' feelings. It only keeps track of who is mostly used, who has taken the most damage, who has delivered the most damage, who has the most KOs, who has been KO'd the most, and who has self-destructed. Professional players should also not care about the feelings of others when their goal is to win.

Character choice will indeed play a role in who wins, just like a stagelist, but when a character gains an advantage on a stage through exploiting its design flaws (sitting in the tree, clipping into lylat, ledge snaps missing; just to name a few) the problem is with the stagelist, not the player.

I'm going to reiterate my point on the stages. I don't care about Lylat Cruise. I never have since Brawl. I agree with you that Lylat has problems of its own. I'm not defending Lylat. I'm defending Duck Hunt. I honestly can't say having a tree up on the stage is a design flaw any more than I could say having a high platform being a flaw in the design of the developers.

Im not ignoring peoples concerns, thats why im addressing every argument you guys present. And i definitely agree with many of the arguments.

I know you're not ignoring peoples' concerns. I was talking about those behind the new rules. Not that they don't care, but they should consider everyone's critique and criticism.

I suppose i should clarify one more thing, i'm not saying i agree or disagree with the new stagelist, im simply providing an alternate perspective on the situation, as well as explaining the reasons for each change.
Also the "select few" individuals who decided on this ruleset happen to be some of the most dedicated and knowledgable organizers known to the smash 4 community.

That's fine but I'm sure there are plenty of other dedicated and knowledgeable organizers who disagree.

The scientific community scrutinizes ideas presented, just as we are right now. But they also test and observe those ideas before drawing a final conclusion. The same should be done with this new stagelist. People can scrutinize the reasons behind it, but they should also actually play the stagelist and observe how it affects the meta before deciding "its a stupid stagelist give me back lylat". Most the people here have already made up their minds about the stagelist, which is truly sad.
So in that sense, it is completely close-minded.

"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." (Aristotle) It's not close-minded.

One more thing, a lot of people seem to think the new stagelist favors top tiers. But ask yourself, who were the strongest characters on Lylat? Duck hunt?
Lylat: Rosa and cloud
Duck hunt: Bayo, Mario, MK, ZSS, and sonic.

I use Mario as a secondary and have been trying to enjoy the fullness of Metroid by using ZSS as well. Regardless, I wouldn't use a tree with those characters.

Even if a character's "best stage" is lylat/DH, they would still be making a mistake to go to that stage against one of the characters i mentioned.

Then players who have a problem with this should have a secondary at hand so that if a situation like this comes up, they can be prepared. I personally find going to Duck Hunt using Samus benefits me greatly because it offers me a lot of spacing.

 

I really hope this new ruleset does not become the standard. The community as a whole needs to respond to help refine this new proposal into a more reasonable ruleset that everyone can agree on. I have polled my community, and the majority detest the proposed ruleset, but like alternatives I presented that are a middle ground. The most like one so far is below, and I encourage other TOs to use it; I'll be using it at my tourneys for a while.

• MDSR in affect
• 1 ban
• Starters: T&C, Smashville, BF, Lylat, FD*
• Counters: Dreamland, Omegas*
• Stages with (*) share bans
• Legal omegas are same as those in the new proposed ruleset

Reasoning for the ruleset above:

-Regarding DH: I personally think that DH's removal is healthy for the metagame. I've always felt it was too detrimental to the meta because of its polarizing qualities. It's incredibly off balance because of the tree. Additionally, the tree and the the base being even wider than FD make camping too strong. The game loses characteristics of a fighter and becomes more of a game of chase. Even at high level play, you can watch sets like Leo vs Ally, or when Zero takes someone there. Certain characters have mobility options that make it incredibly easy to just run away on certain MUs. And even outside of those MUs, running isn't hard. Diddy and Sonic can be hard for any character to catch on that stage if they want to be.

Then there are the elements of grass messing with field of vision, ducks interfering with hitboxes, the dog interfering with combos, and the lack of the Z axis. Perhaps 1 or 2 of the traits in this paragraph would have been manageable, but having them all in one stage, and the issue presented by the tree and size of the stage....it's just too much.

TL;DR: DH makes runaway play too strong and has too many irregular stage characteristics to be deemed a fit environment for a fighting game, especially in competitive play.


-Regarding Lylat: it offers a very unique stage layout, and its glitches are comparable to those of Pokemon Stadium in Melee; a stage that is still legal despite its problems. Glitches involving passing through the stage can happen to other Sm4sh stages as well. I've seen a Captain Falcon go through Battlefield, I cannot see the fall-through glitch on Lylat as a standpoint as to why it should be banned. Maybe one can argue on being Lylatted, but then one realizes that there is jank everywhere after getting hit, from getting platform-carried in SV or T&C to getting pineappled in Dream Land. I can see why people may want it banned, but I honestly prefer it to stay legal.


-Regarding Dreamland and BF sharing a ban: I understand the reasoning, but there is enough separating the stages to warrant a separate ban. Dreamland has Whispy, higher platforms so that many grounded moves do not connect as well as they would on BF, the base of the stage can lead to pineapples, different blastzones, and the stage has unique properties concerning tripping and jab locking.

 

I really hope this new ruleset does not become the standard. The community as a whole needs to respond to help refine this new proposal into a more reasonable ruleset that everyone can agree on. I have polled my community, and the majority detest the proposed ruleset, but like alternatives I presented that are a middle ground. The most like one so far is below, and I encourage other TOs to use it; I'll be using it at my tourneys for a while.

• MDSR in affect
• 1 ban
• Starters: T&C, Smashville, BF, Lylat, FD*
• Counters: Dreamland, Omegas*
• Stages with (*) share bans
• Legal omegas are same as those in the new proposed ruleset

Reasoning for the ruleset above:

-Regarding DH: I personally think that DH's removal is healthy for the metagame. I've always felt it was too detrimental to the meta because of its polarizing qualities. It's incredibly off balance because of the tree. Additionally, the tree and the the base being even wider than FD make camping too strong. The game loses characteristics of a fighter and becomes more of a game of chase. Even at high level play, you can watch sets like Leo vs Ally, or when Zero takes someone there. Certain characters have mobility options that make it incredibly easy to just run away on certain MUs. And even outside of those MUs, running isn't hard. Diddy and Sonic can be hard for any character to catch on that stage if they want to be.

Then there are the elements of grass messing with field of vision, ducks interfering with hitboxes, the dog interfering with combos, and the lack of the Z axis. Perhaps 1 or 2 of the traits in this paragraph would have been manageable, but having them all in one stage, and the issue presented by the tree and size of the stage....it's just too much.

TL;DR: DH makes runaway play too strong and has too many irregular stage characteristics to be deemed a fit environment for a fighting game, especially in competitive play.


-Regarding Lylat: it offers a very unique stage layout, and its glitches are comparable to those of Pokemon Stadium in Melee; a stage that is still legal despite its problems. Glitches involving passing through the stage can happen to other Sm4sh stages as well. I've seen a Captain Falcon go through Battlefield, I cannot see the fall-through glitch on Lylat as a standpoint as to why it should be banned. Maybe one can argue on being Lylatted, but then one realizes that there is jank everywhere after getting hit, from getting platform-carried in SV or T&C to getting pineappled in Dream Land. I can see why people may want it banned, but I honestly prefer it to stay legal.


-Regarding Dreamland and BF sharing a ban: I understand the reasoning, but there is enough separating the stages to warrant a separate ban. Dreamland has Whispy, higher platforms so that many grounded moves do not connect as well as they would on BF, the base of the stage can lead to pineapples, different blastzones, and the stage has unique properties concerning tripping and jab locking.

A very fair and well thought out argument. I agree, expecially with BF/DL not sharing a ban.
Platform height, the blastzones*, and the tree all make it unique.
*this is the biggest difference by far.

 

One more thing, a lot of people seem to think the new stagelist favors top tiers. But ask yourself, who were the strongest characters on Lylat? Duck hunt?
Lylat: Rosa and cloud
Duck hunt: Bayo, Mario, MK, ZSS, and sonic.

MK is not a top tier tho xD.

My main issue as a ZsS main is the Dreamland/Battlefield being treated as the same cuz those are obviously her best stages, but she still does pretty good in the animal crossing stages.
We'll see how it goes but i really dont like the new "ruleset"

 

On the issue of Battlefield and Dreamland being "the same stage," there are certain matchups where one is preferred over the other. Like, with , if a likes using tri-platforms, I'd rather ban Dreamland so that Bowser can't kill me early; he would then pick Battlefield, which helps me more thanks to bigger blast zones and jab lock kill confirms working in all directions (unlike Dreamland). But I might ban Battlefield versus so I can take advantage of Rage Up B kills on Dreamland (ZSS is horribly prone to those, more so than her own Up B hitting Mario).

And this is coming from someone who hasn't been to a tournament outside the 3DS days. I'm sure experienced players would have a ton of reasons why they would prefer BF over DL, or vice-versa.

tl;dr: Battlefield and Dreamland should not be considered the same stage.

 

The main argument as to why battlefield and dreamland share a ban is that they both have a similar platform layout. However, this is the only similarity.
DL has significantly smaller blastzones, vastly affecting most matchups. DL has different sized platforms, the tree, and a very different ledge area.
A lot of people dont realize how to use the wind to their advantage. It can greatly improve perfect pivots, extend combos, and increase your run/dash speed. You can even slide down the stage with your shield up.

 

i like banning dh and lc since they're kind of kind of janky however i think it would be better like this:

starter:
Battlefield
smashville
FD

counterpicks:
Town and city
Dreamland
Omegas with Walls (Onett / Willy's Castle)
Miiverse

if the opponent agrees FD can be replaced by Palutenas Temple and Suzaku Castle Omega version.

omegas with walls are not banned when FD is

Dreamland is not banned when Battlefield is

Miiverse gets band if battlefield is, however I'm not sure about this.
It should be legal tho since it isn't a straight clone. hollow bottom and larger platforms can make a significant difference.

1 Ban
DSR is applied

 

Surprised nobody's shared this yet here, but you can vote on the stages for a more refined version of this ruleset.

 

Surprised nobody's shared this yet here, but you can vote on the stages for a more refined version of this ruleset.

Yeah, but it's still bad because there's not even an option for Duck Hunt, and still completely disregarding stuff like the Mii fighters.

 

i like banning dh and lc since they're kind of kind of janky however i think it would be better like this:

starter:
Battlefield
smashville
FD

counterpicks:
Town and city
Dreamland
Omegas with Walls (Onett / Willy's Castle)
Miiverse

if the opponent agrees FD can be replaced by Palutenas Temple and Suzaku Castle Omega version.

omegas with walls are not banned when FD is

Dreamland is not banned when Battlefield is

Miiverse gets band if battlefield is, however I'm not sure about this.
It should be legal tho since it isn't a straight clone. hollow bottom and larger platforms can make a significant difference.

1 Ban
DSR is applied

I like this but i think the official omega choices are better, and DSR should not be in affect. I would recommend reading the official reddit post that explains why DSR was removed.
Also keep in mind that your list effectively has 6 stages, which means in a Bo5 with DSR, almost all stages will be played unless there is a gentleman. Additionally i like that FD and Omega are grouped in the official rules. Having a wall doesnt really make it that different in most matchups.