Before starting, you must know how a set is going in tournament and how players choose a stage on which they want to play.

Player 1 will declare which character they will use for game 1, and Player 2 will then declare their character. Players will select the first stage by striking from the set of starter stages in the following order: Player 1 strikes a stage, Player 2 strikes two stages, and Player 1 strikes a stage. Player 2 will choose from the remaining stages for the first game. Stage strikes only affect the first game and are removed in consecutive games (i.e. stages struck for game 1 can be played in the other games in the match). Player 1 selects their character. Player 2 selects their character. The first game is played. The winner of the game will declare their next character first and the loser second. The winner of the game bans two stages from the list of starter or counterpick stages. These bans will be lifted for the next game (i.e. stages banned will not be permanently banned throughout the match). The loser of the game chooses the next stage, provided it is not already banned, or they have not already won on that stage in the match. The winner declares and selects their character. The loser declares and selects their character. The next game is played. Repeat steps 5-9 until a match winner is determined.