In an effort to organize the rules, I sorted everything by category, and outlined what is done between the qualifier and national tournaments. Feel free to discuss the rules here. Note that, as these are rules laid down by Nintendo itself, complaining here is not likely to get them changed, and complaining without reasoning is even less likely to get anything done. This thread is strictly for discussion of what already is and perhaps should or shouldn't be in the future, not insisting on what could've or should've been.
Time Limit
Qualifier: 6 minutes
National: 6 minutes; no time limit for grand finals
Stock Count
Qualifier: No stocks
National: 4 stocks
Characters
Qualifier
- Default characters only
National
- All characters allowed
- Mii characters may only represent tournament player
- Players may not switch characters during tournament
Character Customization
Qualifier
- No customization
National
- Two customization sets allowed per character, must be determined before tournament and not changed during
- Players may not change customization except after a loss, in the finals (since the rest of the tournament is bo1, this basically means you can't counterpick on game 1)
- Certain equipment effects are not allowed:
-- Vampire: Life Stealing
-- Shield Healer: Shield restores health
-- Escape Artist: Shield Counter
-- Equipment that gives players an item when entering a battle: Star Rod, Lip’s Stick, Nintendo Scope, Ray Gun, Fire Flower, Beam Sword, Home Run Bat, Bomb-Omb, Mr. Saturn
-- Auto-Healer: Auto-Heal
-- Pity Final Smasher: Final Smash After Respawning
-- Final Smash Healer: Healing Smash Ball
-- Double Final Smasher: Double Final Smash
-- Sudden Death Gambler: Lucky Sudden Death
Items
Qualifier: All items on
National: Smash Balls only until top 4; all items off in top 4 and finals
Stages
Qualifier: Arena Ferox, Battlefield, Final Destination, Tomodachi Life, Yoshi's Island
National: All stages on until finals; Random Omega Form in finals
Time Limit
Qualifier: 6 minutes
National: 6 minutes; no time limit for grand finals
Stock Count
Qualifier: No stocks
National: 4 stocks
Characters
Qualifier
- Default characters only
National
- All characters allowed
- Mii characters may only represent tournament player
- Players may not switch characters during tournament
Character Customization
Qualifier
- No customization
National
- Two customization sets allowed per character, must be determined before tournament and not changed during
- Players may not change customization except after a loss, in the finals (since the rest of the tournament is bo1, this basically means you can't counterpick on game 1)
- Certain equipment effects are not allowed:
-- Vampire: Life Stealing
-- Shield Healer: Shield restores health
-- Escape Artist: Shield Counter
-- Equipment that gives players an item when entering a battle: Star Rod, Lip’s Stick, Nintendo Scope, Ray Gun, Fire Flower, Beam Sword, Home Run Bat, Bomb-Omb, Mr. Saturn
-- Auto-Healer: Auto-Heal
-- Pity Final Smasher: Final Smash After Respawning
-- Final Smash Healer: Healing Smash Ball
-- Double Final Smasher: Double Final Smash
-- Sudden Death Gambler: Lucky Sudden Death
Items
Qualifier: All items on
National: Smash Balls only until top 4; all items off in top 4 and finals
Stages
Qualifier: Arena Ferox, Battlefield, Final Destination, Tomodachi Life, Yoshi's Island
National: All stages on until finals; Random Omega Form in finals