As one of the largest fighting video game franchises, Super Smash Bros. has a huge fanbase filled with players that take the game very seriously, as well as those who don't. Nintendo has taken measures against players whose unfair tactics ruin the fun of the game, but when it comes to tournaments there is a lot more variety. Every region is different with its approach to the rules behind the competitive play, with some tournaments banning specific characters and moves and others being a bit more flexible.
There are a number of techniques that have been banned by most, if not all, tournaments and especially frowned upon by the majority of the fanbase. While some of these tactics may be the fault of the unruly players, some happen to be a part of the game and may only be acceptable in friendly company. From randomized items to obnoxious abilities, you won't be seeing any of these tricks in competitive matches.
8 Stalling The Fight With Endless Techniques
Certain moves can be repeatedly used against an opponent, preventing them from attacking or even fighting back, which proves to make a match last longer but only to the benefit of the player using the technique. Stalling the fight in this way ruins the experience for the other players and the audience watching. Some of these moves that are classified as stalling techniques are banned from tournaments. Sonic's Homing Attack, where he curls up into a ball and moves swiftly across the stage, is one example.
Although the Homing Attack's effectiveness at dodging and attacking benefits the player using Sonic, it takes away from the actual fight. Imagine a match where no fighting or strategy takes place, it's just one player using moves that are easy to make that essentially waste time — that's a disappointing match for everyone.
7 Some Character Specific Abilities Are Considered Overpowered
Among fans, there's a lot of heated debate around which Smash Bros. characters are overpowered and which of those should be either nerfed or banned completely. As far as tournaments go, the most recent debate has been on Cloud, especially when it comes to his Limit Charge ability, which is argued to give him an easy edge against the other characters.
Whether he's taking damage or dealing it, Cloud builds up his Limit Charge, and when the meter is full, all his Special Attacks are even more powerful. All that extra power, just by being present in a match, was frustrating for enough players to have Cloud banned from tournaments across the globe, including Spain and Canada.
6 Using Items For An Easy Win
It's common in competition to have all items switched off for a match, mainly because of how they can be used to unfairly gain a K.O. with just a press of a button and a little luck. The items that summon allies create an unfair advantage for the player who grabs that ally first and, especially in the case of Pokeballs, can decide the winner of the match.
Even inanimate items can result in a K.O. just by throwing them at the other player at the right moment, not to mention that the placement of items is completely random, potentially giving a player an unfair advantage for no good reason. Winning with an item has nothing to do with strategy or the type of characters that are at play, which is why it's considered a cheap way to win.
5 Chasing After The Smash Ball
When the Smash Ball was first introduced to the franchise in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the special item added a whole new aspect to the game. While it was exciting to see each character's special move, some were more effective at landing a K.O. than others, and therefore labeled as overpowered.
With the diversity of these special moves that came with the Smash Ball, there was also an unfair advantage for certain characters. Rather than banning certain characters though, it was decided that the Smash Ball itself would be banned from tournaments.
4 Camping Is What Lead Several Stages To Be Banned From Tournaments
The term "camping" in the Smash Bros. franchise has several meanings, but at its core, the technique aims to avoid taking damage simply by avoiding the fight. A player can be camping by hiding in an area of the stage that's hard to reach by other players. Once they are there, they sit in their protective space, taking advantage of the other players' struggle of reaching them or waiting until the other players are weak enough for them to achieve an easy K.O.
Characters with a greater jumping ability, like Princess Peach, can take advantage of camping, especially in the air. On top of certain characters being more capable of this scorned strategy, certain stages within the game provide the spaces that lead to camping. The stage Yoshi's Island N64 is a major example as players would camp on the clouds in the stage, attacking any player who would approach them.
3 Utilizing Self-Destructing Moves Repeatedly
It was unavoidable to have some characters with powerful moves that could be used with little to no downtime, just based on how they are in their own games, but these moves are much more of a headache in Smash Bros.
Powerful attacks like Pikachu's thunderbolt are great at covering a bigger field while dealing a good amount of damage, but the problem is when people abuse the move for the wrong reasons. Some players have been caught using destructive moves like these to take down their own teams, or at the very least ruin the experience of other players.
2 Starting Or Trying To Start Taunting Matches
When playing with friends, it's wholly acceptable to spend a good few minutes spamming taunts at each other, so long as everyone is cool with that. However, online and in tournaments, it can be pretty obnoxious to deal with when you're looking for a serious match.
Some tournaments have banned taunting completely to push players to focus on taking the match more seriously. On a more controversial note, Nintendo themselves have banned taunts indefinitely from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate online. Many fans are against Nintendo's decision on the change, making taunts a surprisingly heavy debate.
1 Using The Fastest Characters To Avoid Attacks
Speed is just another ability that certain characters excel in more than others, but it should never be used solely to avoid fighting in a match. While there are characters who can take advantage of their jumping ability, the characters with speed as their advantage can spam running across a large stage and succeed at never being hit.
The problem isn't the speed itself since, with the right timing, any player can give damage to even the fastest characters. The problem lies with players who abuse the speed to stay out of the fight. This strategy is a combination of stalling and camping, where the player prolongs the battle in their favor while at the same time remaining physically far from taking any damage. While this may work for the player utilizing the strategy, it ruins the match for the other players and everyone else. It's also considered a very cheap win and is the reason why certain levels, like Hyrule's Temple, are banned from tournaments.