LiteralGrill
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Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar, founding member of the Evo Championship Series, recently tweeted out that "The final rules are up for Smash Wii U!". The ruleset for the tournament has been heavily debated across forums, Twitter, and more, but it seems that this will be the final consensus for the world's largest Smash 4 tournament to date. The rules for the game can be found in the additional rules section of the Evo website.
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There have been some big changes since the beginning of the ruleset, so here are some of the major highlights from the beginning of the ruleset to this finalized version and discussion points to help keep readers informed.
The Stock And Timer
When Mr. Wizard sent out a Tweet asking how Smash 4 players would react to a 2 stock, 4 minute game, many players came out to discuss what should be used. After it seemed settled on that it would be 2 stocks and 5 minutes for Evo, several players still asked for 3 stock 8 minute matches. Mr. Wizard did say he was willing to run 3 stocks "as long as the timer remains the same." As the event drew closer, many expressed concerns that 5 minute matches would be too easily timed out, and that they may make the event go even longer than expected. After much asking, Mr. Wizard changed the rules to allow a 6 minute timer alongside 2 stocks for the Evo 2015 ruleset.
Custom Moves
Originally, players were unsure if customs would be on or off for the event. After the first form of proposed rules were put up, @Amazing Ampharos sent out a Tweet to Mr. Wizard asking if custom moves would be on. After a bit of discussion, he confirmed they could be allowed at Evo 2015. This sparked much controversy since many players weren't sure about having customs on yet, or did not want custom moves legal at all. Despite this, the final ruling will have customs on at Evo 2015, however you will only be able to use one of the 10 preset movesets shown on this Evo spreadsheet as "There will be no loading anything on to the consoles from a Nintendo portable gaming system." These sets where decided by the Custom Moveset Project which consisted of feedback taken in various threads from the character boards on Smashboards with the final options being selected by a panel of players including @Amazing Ampharos, @Thinkaman, @John12346, @NinjaLink, and @TheReflexWonder. The thread for the latest release of the project can be found here.
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Mii Legality
When Smashboards had an exclusive interview with Mr. Wizard, he didn't seem to know what to do with Miis at the time saying, "I would have to do more research on Mii's. I dont know enough about that to make a informed decision." After a controversial tweet with Mr. Wizard being "still on the fence about letting Mii's into the tournament as the bring no value", many players were left wondering what the fate of Miis at the tournament would be. However the Evo document discussing which custom movesets will be allowed clearly shows the Miis included as well, so it is assumed that Miis will be legal during the tournament.
The Stagelist
The original stagelist had Battlefield, Final Destination, and Smashville, as starters, with Lylat Cruise, Town & City, Castle Siege, Delfino Plaza, Duck Hunt, and Halberd as counterpick stages. As he discussed on Twitter and in more detail with his interview for Smashboards, the decision on which stages could be used partially came down to issues with licensing music. The process for finding which stages could be used was interesting as well. "Without getting into specifics to violate the NDA, we were asked what stages we wanted to use for tournament play, and we gave a modified list of stages (based off of the APEX rules). From that list, we were told what was OK and what wasn't, and then locked it in via the license." He also confirmed during the interview that due to these issues with music, all Omega stages were banned, as well as the ability to use a gentleman's pick to choose a non legal stage. As the ruleset states, "You may not play on a stage that is not on the available stages list. This will result in a double disqualification."
The ruleset did shift slightly before this final set as well, with Battlefield, Final Destination, Smashville, Lylat Cruise, and Town & City, being starters with Castle Siege, Delfino Plaza, Duck Hunt, and Halberd as counterpick stages. However for the final list, all of the previously mentioned stages are legal with no starter or counterpick distinctions. Mr Wizard confirmed on Twitter this would mean a Full List Striking System, where all stages were struck from to decide the first stage played on in tournament, something not normally seen in major Smash events but has been getting use in smaller community events.
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DLC Legality
For players wondering about the possible legality of Mewtwo at Evo 2015, Mr. Wizard explained how that would down in his Smashboards interview. "If Mewtwo is available to the public at large via DLC without having to own both 3DS and WiiU versions of Smash, then he will be allowed. If its locked only to people that own both, he will be banned. Mewtwo also has to be available within a reasonable time period after release and not a timed exclusive."
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With the rules finally locked in for the event, players will be turning from discussing what to do for the event itself, to how to tackle the event under its current ruleset. While some may like this ruleset and others may not, let us remember to be civil with one another so we can come together and show the world what Smash is like at as grand a stages as Evo!
@
LiteralGrill
is always open to discussing rulesets and helping keep folks informed! Follow him on Twitter to discuss or keep track of everything ruleset related in the Smash scene.
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