Kirby Fighters 2 - Kirby Fighters Dojo: Era of a New Star and Popstar Pop-Up Ruleset (as of September 1st, 2026)

Game Settings
*Players play with hazards, items, and ghosts off.
**Both players play on normal handicap


Set Structure
*Each set is a first to 3/best of 5, until later rounds, to be decided later at the TO's discretion, which are either first to 4/best of 7 or first to 5/best of 9.

*Before EVERY GAME, characters are selected before the stage ban, and stage selection process. Players have the option to facilitate a double-blind character pick for game 1 by telling a third party their character selections, and afterwards the winner picks their character before the loser does.

*For game 1 players will use a 1-2-1 stage striking system for game 1, picking from the 5 starter stages. If there's a dispute between who strikes first, rock-paper-scissors will be done to determine who strikes first (or second if they want).  Players will decide who gets to strike first (or second, whichever is their choice) with this website: https://www.rpsgame.org/

*For all games following game 1, the winner bans 2 stages from the list of both starter and counterpick stages.  Then, the loser picks the stage.  These successive bans do not persist beyond each individual game.


Stagelist

Starters:
*Green Gardens
*Stage of Destined Rivals **
*Butter Building
*Bubbly Clouds
*Factory Tour

Counterpicks:
*Springy Hand Land
*Jambastion Entrance

**Stage of the Partners is identical to Stage of Destined Rivals, so it may also be selected if Stage of Destined Rivals was selected. Fountain of Dreams and The Empyrean are identical to Stage of Destined Rivals, except for spawn points, so if both players mutually agree upon it, or if it's a stream match with a spectator, thus spawn points don't matter, Fountain of Dreams or The Empyrean may be selected in place of Stage of Destined Rivals

Gentleman's Rule: Any stage can be played on if both players agree to it!


Stream Rules

*For sets played on stream, the spectator will select Bomb with Very Hard Handicap. The spectators will get the Bomb spectator down to 10 or less HP, and then wait for the Bomb player to self KO themselves by holding a bomb to explode. Both players can begin moving and attacking when the Bomb spectator is KO'd

**Players may request to not do the Bomb count down, to just KO the spectator and start with a neutral start, and begin fighting after 2 or 3 crouches at the neutral spawn position.

***Players may opt to play a set off stream if the lag is deemed too bad to play a legitimate match, to reduce the spectator/third player lag.


Other In-Game Rules

(Violating any of these rules results in the opponent winning that respective game)

Air Time: Within 15 seconds of being airborne, a player must either touch the ground, be hit by an opponent, or hit an opponent (including hitting a blocking/shielding opponent). Performing any of these actions resets the air timer to 0 for an additional 15 seconds.

Meta Knight: Meta Knight can only perform up to 3 Shuttle Loops before touching the ground. This includes Shuttle Loops initially performed while grounded; in this case, players may use Shuttle Loop only twice more in the air.

Gooey: Gooey cannot stay in Stone form for more than 5 seconds at a time.

Magolor: If one player has chosen Magolor when their opponent has not chosen Magolor, Gooey or Meta Knight, standard stage selection procedure is ignored and the player that has not selected Magolor may re-select the stage to play on from any legal stage, ignoring any stage bans.


Lag Clause
-If an off-stream set is determined to be unreasonably laggy, a lag test may be performed and the player with a weaker connection will be disqualified.

-If one player is not from the same continent as a majority of entrants and causes a laggy set, they will be disqualified as they are likely to cause more issues


Bracket Stalling Rules
-Taking longer than three minutes to choose a character, ban a stage, or select a stage will result in a game forfeit.

-If a player has violated the initial bracket stalling rule in a set, for the remainder of the set, they must do then do the aforementioned character/stage procedure in a minute for the remainder of the set, or it will result in a set forfeit.

NOTE: The aforementioned are up to the discretion of the opponent to be called out on. If the opponent doesn't care, then they won't be enforced, unless the player in question stalls long enough for the tournament organizer to deem it holding up the bracket, in which case, the TO can enforce a game forfeit or set forfeit/DQ, by their discretion.

-If a player does not arrive within 8 minutes of being called for their set, they will be disqualified (If an emergency comes up, please contact a TO to let them know you’re present but need to give immediate attention elsewhere)