• Double Elimination
• Singles tournament (1v1)
• Tournament Mode Enabled
• 3 stocks, 8 minutes
• 2/3 Games per Set
• 3/5 Games per Set starting in Top 16 of the tournament
• Winner of prior game is allowed 2 Stage Bans prior to counterpicks
• “Character-first” counterpick procedure (characters are decided before stage counterpicks for games after the first)
• DSR applies (players may not counterpick to any stage they won on earlier in the set)
• Mutual Agreement is not permitted. Players may not agree to play on a stage that would otherwise violate the existing stage rules. A player who repeatedly attempts to coerce their opponent into such an agreement may be penalized with a game or set loss, depending on the severity and frequency of the infraction.

Stage List Starter Stages

• Aetherian Forest
• Julesvale
• Merchant Port
• Godai Delta
• Hodojo

Counterpick Stages

• Hyperborean Harbor
• Rock Wall
• Air Armada
• Tempest Peak
• Fire Capital

Set Procedure Prior to Game 1:

• Competitors select their characters for Game 1, either competitor may request a Double-Blind character selection
• If a player wishes to choose a random character, that character may remain unknown to both players until the game starts only if the random character pool includes ALL characters
• Competitors play a best-of-1 in Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) to determine the order for stage striking
• Competitors take turns removing stages from the list of 5 starter stages (see above) in a P1-P2-P2-P1 order with the winner of RPS striking first, the stage that remains is the stage for Game 1

Between Games in the Set (“Character-first” procedure):

• Winner of prior game selects their character for the next game, they are allowed to switch characters
• Loser of prior game selects their character for the next game, they are allowed to switch characters
• Winner of prior game bans 2 stages from the full list of legal stages, including both starters and counterpicks; the ban is effective for the next game only and does not persist throughout the set
• Loser of the prior game selects the stage for the next game from the remaining unbanned stages, they cannot select a stage they won on earlier in the set (DSR)