TKD’s Rule Set. Flexible Version.
Posted on April 28, 2011 by José Miguel
At the time of writing this, I recommend the following set of rules. It includes a lot of options, so an edited version of it should be used.
Refined Tag Rule Set
General Settings:
Survival: 3 stocks.
Time limit: 8~10 minutes. <- TO’s discretion
Team Attack ON.
Items at “NONE” and “OFF”.
Additional rules:
Gentleman’s rule: Both sides may agree to add or remove rules during a match or a set.
The TO should set his or her own rules of conduct (regarding attitudes, interferences, set-ups, the venue, etc.).
The TO can declare 4 stock, 10 minute time limit survival single matches, with a ledge grab limit of 40, to be played instead of sets to save time (for example, during pools).
Disputes additional to the ones mentioned may be solved with the help of a Tournament Organizer/Referee; or randomizing methods such as a coin flip or dice toss.
Timeout and tiebreaker rules:
Ledge grab limit: 30
If a match clocks out, the winner is declared by stocks, then percentage. Any player that broke the ledge grab limit surrenders all stocks when determining a winner in this situation. In Team Battle, the sum of stocks and percentage for both characters on each Team is taken into account. If these are tied, a tiebreaker is to be played out.
If both sides are eliminated simultaneously, a tiebreaker is to be played out.
A tiebreaker consists of either playing out the Sudden Death automatically triggered by the game, or a one stock battle with 3-minute time limit and a ledge grab limit of 10 on the same stage, as the same characters.
Banned actions:
These are to be penalized as the Organizer sees fit. The general consensus is for most of these to be penalized by immediately surrendering a stock.
Pausing the match.
Stalling via glitches, infinites past 300%, non-damaging loops, or unreachable positioning (unintentional scratched disc-dependent glitches like transformation freezing should become exceptions).
Traveling under the stage from one side to the other more than once in a row without stepping on it: platforms don’t count.
Extending Meta Knight’s Interdimensional cape.
Causing Meta Knight’s Drill Rush glitch in Halberd.
Grabbing the ledge more than once during Sudden Death.
Optional rule: Floor Settings
The TO may use the following rules instead of the ones in blue font:
Time limit: 10 minutes
If a match clocks out, the character -or team that includes the character-, that accumulated the most ground time, wins.
The TO may also decide to allow the players to agree to either tag or floor settings by themselves each set, with the use of a coin flip in case of disputes.
Set procedure:
Round One selections.
Selection of controller ports (1P, 2P, etc.). A dispute is solved via coin flip, dice toss; or if agreed upon, a game of rock-paper-scissors. The winner selects controller port first (only the first of the four in Team Battle). Open, undisputed selection of controller ports is the means to skip a dispute.
Round One character selection. A dispute is solved via blind pick (either by handing the opponent a folded piece of paper containing one’s character choice, or secretly notifying a referee of it; which is revealed after the opponent selects character). Open, undisputed character selection is the means to skip a dispute.
Round One stage selection. A starter stage to play the first round on is to be selected by elimination method (each player strikes a stage, until one remains for the match to be played on).
Each player is allowed to inflict Handicap upon his/her self. The match is to begin.
Round Two selections.
The side that lost the previous round is allowed to reset controller port selection and select controller port first (only the first of the four in Team Battle).
The side that won the previous round is allowed to ban up to two counter-pick stages from being selected during the current round.
The side that lost the previous round declares the next counter-pick stage to be played on.
The side that won the previous round selects character.
The side that lost the previous round selects character.
Scouting rule: The side that won the previous round is allowed to reset character selection (repeat steps 4~5) once.
Each player is allowed to inflict Handicap upon his/her self. The match is to begin.
Round 3~5 selections.
The same steps are followed for Round 3~5 selections as they are for Round Two selections.
If any side has accumulated the required number of wins to be declared victorious, the set ends.
Starter stages:
Battlefield
Final Destination
Pokémon Stadium (Melee) / Lylat Cruise
Smashville
Yoshi’s Island (Brawl)
Counter-pick stages:
Battlefield
Castle Siege
Delfino Plaza
Final Destination
Frigate Orpheon
Halberd
Lylat Cruise
Pirate Ship <- optional if running 100% floor settings. otherwise banned
Pokémon Stadium (Melee)
Pokémon Stadium 2 <- optional
Smashville
Yoshi’s Island (Brawl)
SSBB communities and TOs are free to use this rule set, or any modified version of it.
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end of rule set
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Clarifications and reasoning.
There’s no need to read this, but here are the conclusions of highest value that resulted from discussions during the making of this.
Final Destination is a starter stage because it’s the less intrusive of the stage list along with Battlefield. “It’s not the stage’s fault that some characters are very good in it”, AC said.
The starter stage list was originally Battlefield, Smashville, and Yoshi’s Island (Brawl). The dryness and inflexibility of a three starter list (besides the fact that two of them almost or entirely lack platforms) makes some players uneasy, so instead of exchanging Yoshi’s Island (Brawl) for Final Destination, this last one and Pokémon Stadium (Melee) were added as starter stages.
Lylat Cruise isn’t considered an appropriate starter stage; because not only does it limit and improves some types of movement (platform canceling, stage tilting), but it also affects character recoveries with its ledge properties (which Pokémon Stadium (Melee) also does), and many players can’t see well while playing on it because of its darkness and background.
The stage list originally included Rainbow Cruise. This stage was concluded to define the outcome of a match by itself too frequently, for example: Kirby’s/MK’s uthrow onto a high platform, falling and losing a stock because of a short air-jump or a sudden lack of one, surviving a KO move on the boat because of crashing into a flying structure.
Brinstar was never in the list, but was then compared to Rainbow Cruise, with the argument that a good portion of characters are actually good there. It even has less random factors. The fact that Brinstar and Rainbow Cruise are so ambiguous, and that there’s a a popular judgement that Brinstar is worse of a stage from what I’ve seen and heard at tournaments (almost only MK players not banning it, player’s complaints about it), made me conclude for it to stay banned.
Having two stage bans available makes the counter-pick process more flexible than one ban plus dave’s stupid rule. Also, there’s no dave’s stupid rule because of the two available stage bans. The rule is quite often waived with the gentleman’s clause anyway, and you can simply ban the stage your opponent won on if you deem it appropriate.
Stage bans only affect the current round, and they’re reset each round. Since there are two of them, if they affected the entire set, there would be a total of 4 stages banned when each side has won a round, and the stage list is too small for that. Also, stage banning is less limiting and requires less planning this way: There was a decision that what affects the set should be more your game play skills than the way you can take advantage of the rules.
Pokémon Stadium 2 is to be tested.
Pokémon Stadium 2′s main characteristics are its large size (it’s slightly wider than Final Destination), and its transformations. Because of these, there’s a possibility that it’s the easiest stage to clock out matches in.
It’s speculated to be a good stage for Wario because of the positional advantage some transformations give him, and good for Falco because of its size.
Like Pokémon Stadium (Melee)’s, Pokémon Stadium 2′s transformations usually make it risky to approach, and easy to avoid confrontation. Additionally, these include physics changes that can confuse a player that’s not aware of them (but not if he is). The physics changes were the only aspect of this stage that had it banned before, with the argument that no other allowed stage presents them.
Marth has interesting glitches in this stage: His player must be aware that Dancing Blade’s third (or fourth?) strike shoots him off the stage if he executes it during the electrical phase. This can be avoided every time by any player that knows of the glitch, by means that don’t require much concentration (avoiding to Dancing Blade off from the conveyor belts).
Marth is able to reach maximum stage height and stay there with rising Dancing Blade (he always counts as rising immediately after a rising Dancing Blade) in the wind phase. He also takes some time to land back on the stage after doing this. This gives him a powerful ability to make time.
The “stalling is banned” rule may be interpreted as covering this (because of covering that which is called “unreachable positioning” as a form of stalling). I don’t see banning this to be necessary, but it’s up to the TO.
Handicap is available between character selection and beginning a match. It’s been said that it’s part of the game, not a broken aspect of it at all (you give away whatever initial damage you select times three), and more of a preference than anything else. It will also add a small dimension to the game that may add depth and possibilities to some character match-ups.
There’s something called the “scouting rule”. Right after character selection in round two and beyond, the player that won the previous round (is being counter-picked) may reset character selection (so he selects character again, and his opponent selects character after him, again).
This rule was instated because of the magnitude of the advantages between some characters, to balance the characters that lack counters, with those that have them.
It allows players that play characters such as Wolf and Donkey Kong to “scout” if their opponent would counter-pick them too sharply for their taste or not, so attempting to stay as such characters in an opposing counterpick is entirely possible.
Infinites are allowed in this rule set with the argument that they’re simply a part of the game and of match-ups that shouldn’t be changed arbitrarily, so players susceptible to them are aided by this rule.
There’s an 8 minute time limit. This is a standard in Europe and the US, so I went with that. I thought of using a 9 minute time limit, and a 10 minute time limit was proposed; but I say that if we want to discourage time outs, we can simply go for a 10 minute timer with the Ground Time rule enforced (instead of a ledge grab and under-stage travel limit), which is viable as well.
I call win by percentage upon time out the “Tag Setting”, and the win by accumulated ground time upon time out the “Floor Setting”. Both are effective, and both affect character match-ups differently. One favors characters that can camp and avoid confrontation, the other favors characters that can chain-grab.
I went with a tag setting because it’s more popular, and this rule set is inspired on the “Unity Ruleset Version 1.0″, with the intent of being a perfected version of it.
The Ledge Grab Limit is indiscriminately the same for all characters, as some are better than others at ledge camping. The under-stage travel limit is what limits the best ones (mainly Pit and Meta Knight).
Meta Knight’s Drill Rush glitch in Halberd turns the stage into a second Brinstar, in that it makes the positional advantage that comes with the ability to approach from below the stage permanently available, which is the reason it’s banned.
So…that’s it. I hope you love and support this.
there you go BPC. i just copy pasted that. this ruleset is great if you main fox looooooooool. other than that...... no no even if you main fox this is a terrible ruleset imo. no hate TKD, but i just don't dig your opinion is all.