Editing Stage striking

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{{ArticleIcons|series=y|competitive=y|unofficial=y}}
{{ArticleIcons|series=y|competitive=y|unofficial=y}}


'''Stage striking''' is a common procedure in ''Super Smash Bros.'' [[tournament]]s, typically found in the tournament's ruleset. Though the exact process can vary depending on amount of acceptable stages and the goals of the tournament, the basic idea is that the players are allowed to prevent stages from being played in the future.  
'''Stage striking''' is a common procedure seen in most tournaments the various games of the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series. Stage striking involves all players in the match taking turns on deciding which [[stage]]s will not be played on for the first match of a set. Players often alternate between each other to eventually decide on one stage that they will start their set on.  


==Overview==
The process for stage striking starts off with players deciding who strikes the first stage, often via a game with a [[random]] outcome, such as a coin flip or by playing {{s|wikipedia|rock-paper-scissors}}. All tournaments for most of the games generally feature five legal, starting stages, with the winner of this random game being able to strike one legal stage of their choice. After this, the loser of the random game is allowed to strike two stages, and the winner then strikes one last stage. The one remaining stage is then used as the first stage for the set.
As stages are more important to game play than most other fighting games, stage selection is taken very seriously. This is why most tournaments ban a majority of stages due to being extremely unbalanced in some way. Even the tournament legal stages can provide an advantage to one playable character over another, which is where stage striking comes in. After a game is completed, the winner of said is usually allowed to strike one or two stages depending on the size of the stage pool, and the other player then allowed to select the stage for the next game barring the striked stages. This process is to ensure the [[stage]] is fairly selected and prevent the loser to make a [[counterpick]] heavily in their favor and easily tie the set. If the very first game in a set is also to be striked, players must settle who gets to strike between themselves, often by coin flip or {{s|wikipedia|rock-paper-scissors}}. Any stage can be striked, even starter stages picked specifically to have a relatively neutral layout. This rule is popular in all games except for modern ''Smash 64'' tournaments, of which only one stage is commonly used, making stage striking pointless. However, best of five ''Melee'' sets tend to forgo stage striking entirely due to the legal stage pool being too small, causing only one or two stages to be picked for a whole match.  


Another version of stage striking involves all involved players taking turns removing one or more stages from a list until only one stage is left. The procedure can be skipped entirely by invoking the [[Gentleman's Clause]], provided the tournament has such a rule. This version of stage striking operates similarly to the 1-2-2-1 setup of doubles matches. It begins with the players deciding who will strike first (such as by coin flip or rock-paper-scissors), after which one player will strike a stage, and the next will strike another stage. The process then repeats in reverse, with the player that went second striking another stage before the player that went first can strike another. This continues until only one stage is left, including the scenario in which there are fewer than five legal stages, and that stage will be used for the game. For successive games in the match, the winner typically starts this striking process again. Variations of [[Dave's Stupid Rule]] may limit which stages can be selected in these cases.
If a tournament ruleset features more than five stages, then the player who initially won the game of chance selects two stages after the losing player selects their two, and the procedure continues with each player only selecting one stage until only one stage is left. If a ruleset features fewer than five stages, either the losing player makes the final decision with their strikes, or they only strike one stage and the winning player strikes one more stage.
 
Stage striking is not performed for successive matches in the set; instead, the winner of the previous match selects their character, the loser selects their character in response, and the loser is then able to pick any legal or counterpick stage, provided any variants of [[Dave's Stupid Rule]] allow for the selection. Stage striking can also be skipped by invoking the [[Gentleman's Clause]], provided the tournament has such a ruling.
 
As only one stage is legal in ''Smash 64'' tournaments, [[Dream Land]], stage striking is no longer a common practice at ''Smash 64'' tournaments, though it was previously featured in older, less restrictive rulesets for the game.


==Example of stage striking==
==Example of stage striking==
<gallery heights="320" widths="480">
 
<gallery heights="360" widths="480">
File:StageStrike1.png|Player 1 selects {{PM|Link}} and Player 2 selects {{PM|Marth}}. In this example, Player 2 is assumed to have won the coin flip, and as a result, they get to pick the first stage to be struck.
File:StageStrike1.png|Player 1 selects {{PM|Link}} and Player 2 selects {{PM|Marth}}. In this example, Player 2 is assumed to have won the coin flip, and as a result, they get to pick the first stage to be struck.
File:StageStrike2.png|The above is the most common starter stagelist for ''Project M'' tournaments.
File:StageStrike2.png|The above is the most common starter stagelist for ''Project M'' tournaments.
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</gallery>
</gallery>


==See also==
*[[Stage legality]]


[[Category:Terms]]
[[Category:Terms]]
[[Category:Competitive play]]
[[Category:Competitive play]]

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